LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 



Shelf.„3'llr 

UNITED STATES OF AMEKICA. 



OUR REPUBLIC 



A TEXT-BOOK UPON THE 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF THE UNITED STATES, 



HISTORIC INTRODUCTION, 



BY / 

Prof. M. B. C. TRUE, 

Superintendent of Schools, North Loup, Nebraska, and 
Author of "A Civil Government of Nebraska." 



Hon. JOHN W. DICKINSON, 

» 

Secretary of the Massachusetts Board of Education. 




' _!V!An 33 7' 



LEACH, SHEWELL, & SANBORN, 
BOSTON AND NEW YORK. 



X-v. 



< 



' Copyright, 1888, 

M. B. C. TRUE AND J. W. DICiasrSON. 



Typoseapht by J. S. Gushing & Co., Boston. 



PEEFACE. 

The written constitution of the United States, like the con- 
stitutions of the individual states of the Union, is simply the 
framework of the government. Many of its provisions are so 
general as to be adapted to a very wide application. On this 
account the study of the constitution gives an indefinite and 
sometimes an incorrect idea of the machinery actually employed 
to apply and enforce its mandates. 

A commentary upon the constitution of the United States 
gives a faint idea only of the government as it has developed 
under the hand of the statesman. The details of a government 
are always more important to the average citizen and average 
student than ' are the theories of government that may be de- 
duced from its written constitution. It is therefore the object 
of this treatise to place before the student such a statement 
of the actual agencies of the government of the nation as 
shall enable him the better to understand the silken bonds of 
authority which restrain, though unseen. 

The plan of the work does not contemplate a reference to 
all minor details, though nothing deemed important has been 
omitted. 

In the preparation of the volume we have endeavored to 
respond to the growing and strengthening sentiment of Ameri- 
can educators, favoring a more general and systematic study 



IV PREFACE. 

of civil government, in a way adapted to the common schools, 
and to anticipate the day when the government of the state 
shall be studied before that of the nation shall be taken up. 
The details of all the governing agencies and functions of the 
state may safely and properly be taught in the last years of 
the grammar school course. The study of the national gov- 
ernment may be reserved for the high schools and academies. 
We have no doubt that such an order of study of this branch 
of human knowledge will be generally adopted at no distant 
day. 

In addition to the details of the government, enough com- 
ment has been supplied to make the theory of government, as 
generally accepted, clear and complete. 

The scattered provisions of the national constitution, bear- 
ing likeness to the Bill of Rights of the state constitutions, are 
collected and arranged connectedly. They are mostly written 
in the technical language of the law-books, but we have tried 
to make them clear to the student b}' explanatory notes. 

It is expected that the Historic Introduction will be read by 
all students. It is new to a text-book in civil government. 
How much time shall be given to it as a study must depend 
upon the age and requirements of the class and the time at the 
disposal of the teacher. 

In the treatment of the states, let it be remembered that the 
laws, usages, and customs are somewhat diverse, the officials 
sometimes differing in name, and having different functions. 
Hence the authors are not often able to go very much into de- 
tails, and many of the statements should be supplemented by 
the teacher so as to adapt such a book to the different parts of 
our great Union of States. THE AUTHOKS. 



CONTENTS. 



PAGE 

Historic Introduction . .— .1 

Preamble of the Constitution . . . . . .21 

Bill of Rights 25 

The State . 39 

Officers 39 

Legislature , . 41 ^ 

Judiciary . . 41 

County 43 

City ,43 

Town, Village, or Borough . . . . . . o • 44 

Laws 46 

Education ,47 

Marriage ■ ,48 

Parents and Children 50 

Taxes . 51 

Juries 52 

Militia 54 

Prisons, Asylums, etc 55 

Wills .58 

Contracts . 59 

Partnership 62 

Mortgages . . . . ' 64 

Liens 65 

Leases 66 

Sales . . . . . . . . . . .67 

Receipts and Notes 69 

Interest and Agency ..,,.... 70 

Insurance 71 

Railroads ' . .73 

Canals 75 



VI 



CONTENTS. 



Civil Polity .... 
Division of Powers . 

Legislative Department 
Powers of Congress 
Restrictions upon Congress 
Administrative Department . 
The President 

Qualifications . 

Powers and Duties . 
The Departments . 

Department of State 

Bureaus . 
Department of the Treasury- 
Bureaus . 

The Revenue System 

The Light-house Service 

The Mint 

National Banks 
Department of War 

Bureaus . 

The Army 

The Military Academy 
Department of the Navy 

Bureaus . 

The Naval Academy 

The Navy 
Depai'tment of the Interior 

Bureaus . 

Patents 

The Public Lands . 
Department of the Post-Office 

Bureaus . . . 

Money Orders . 

Letter Registry 

Immediate Delivery 

Dead-letter Office . 

Postage 
Department of Justice . 



CONTENTSo Vll 

Division of Powees. 

The Departments. page 

Miscellaneous ..... o = . . 168 

Naturalization 168 

Copyrights 169 

Smithsonian Institution 170 

Intev-State Commerce Commissions .... 171 

Judicial Department 174 

Supreme Court 174 

Circuit Courts 174 

District Courts 175 

Supreme Court of the Distript of Columbia . . . 175 

Court of Claims 176 

Territorial Courts . . . . . . . . 176 

Officers of the Courts 176 % 

Trials .178 

Jurisdiction of the United States Courts . . . 179 

Impeachment 185 

Relations of the States . . . . . . . 187 

Prohibitions upon the States 188 

Prohibitions upon the United States . . . . „ 198 

Constitutional Commands 204 

Amendments to the Constitution 209 

Appendix 213 

Declaration of Rights 213 

Articles of Confederation 219 

Declaration of Independence 230 

Constitution 237 

Index ............ 259 



HISTORIC INTRODUCTION. 



We are now near the four-hundredth 3- ear-stone in the history 
of the United States. Cokimbus discovered America, October 
21, 1492. The great discoverer did not visit the mainland of 
North America, but his discovery was the initial act that pro- 
duced the present nation. Before him, other Europeans had 
visited the present boundaries of the original thirteen colonies, 
but their visitations were not related in any way to the present 
condition of affairs. The Northmen came and went, but they 
left little trace of their coming. After Columbus, there was 
an era of explorations extending over a period of more than 
one hundred years. Sebastian Cabot examined the eastern 
shores of North America, from the mouth of the St. Lawrence 
river to Albemarle sound, in 1799. Thirteen years afterwards, 
on Easter Sunday, Ponce de Leon stepped upon the fertile soil 
of the peninsula which he fitly named Florida. In 1520, Vas- 
quez de Ayllon, a Spanish adventurer and pirate, visited South 
Carolina in search of slaves. He enticed a large number of 
Indians on board his vessel and took them to Hayti. This was 
the beginning of the slave-trade in the United States. John 
Verrazzoni, in 1524, landed near Wilmington, in North Caro- 
lina, on a tour of explorations. He examined the coast some 
distance to the south, and northward to Nova Scotia. New 
York bay and Narragansett bay are two inlets of the ocean 
which he explored. Stephen Gomez, a former companion of 
Magellan, a few years later sailed along the coast of the 
middle and northern states in search of a north-western passage 



2 HISTORIC INTRODUCTION. 

to the Pacific ocean. Failing in his search, he imitated the 
southern pirate, Ayllon, and captured a ship-load of Indians 
to be sold as slaves. The slave-trade, as we see, was not con- 
fined to the southern states. 

In 1541, Alar9on sailed along the Calif ornian coast nearly 
as far north as San Francisco. In the same year, Coronado 
passed up the gulf of California and discovered Gila river. 
This he followed eastward, in search of the renowned seven 
cities of Cibola. He is said to have traversed the eastern foot 
of the Eocky Mountains, and to have w^andered north-easterly 
over the great plains to the fortieth parallel of latitude and to 
a great river beyond. This would take him through Kansas 
and into the borders of Nebraska. Another noted exploration 
was begun in 1541. In that year Fernando de Soto landed in 
Florida and searched two years for rich cities and for mines of 
the precious metals. He traversed Alabama and Mississippi, 
and possibly Georgia and Tennessee. He died near the Mis- 
sissippi river, below Memphis, and was buried in its waters. 
In 1562, a party of Huguenots, under John Eibault, attempted 
a settlement in South Carolina. The colony was soon after 
abandoned, as the civil warSj then raging in France, prevented 
the sending over aid and reinforcements. Three years after- 
wards, inJ565, the Spaniards founded St. Augustine. This 
was the first permanent settlement within the boundaries of the 
United States. 

In 1579, Sir Francis Drake carried the English flag north- 
ward along the western coast of North America to the present 
state of Oregon. The second permanent settlement was made 
by the Spanish, at Sante Fe, New Mexico, in 1582. In 1584, 
Sir Walter Raleigh sent two vessels with emigrants, under 
Philip Amidas and Arthur Barlow, to make a settlement near 
the mouth of the Potomac river. The colonists were driven 
southward to the coast of North Carolina, where they traded 
with the Indians ; but they returned to England without mak- 



HISTORIC INTRODUCTION. 3 

iug a settlement. They gave such a glowiug description of the 
couutiy that it captivated Queen Elizabeth, who named the 
country Virginia. The next year, another colony was sent 
over under Sir Richard Grenville. The party barely escaped 
shipwreck at the mouth of Cape Fear river, whence they gave 
it its name. The colonists debarked on Roanoke island, in 
Albemarle sound. They remained there only a year, when 
they returned to England. Two years afterwards, John White 
led a colony of settlers to the same place and founded a city to 
which was given the name Raleigh. White left the colony and 
returned to England for supplies and additional colonists. He 
did not return for three years ; he then found the place deserted 
and no trace of the colouists left. Their fate has never been 
learned. Among them was a grand-daughter of White, named 
Virginia Dare, said to be the first child of English parents born 
within the present boundaries of the thirteen original colonies. 

In 1602, Bartholomew Gosnold visited the coast of New 
England. He gave the name to Cape Cod after the name of 
the fish which he caught near its shore. The next year, Martin 
Pring explored the coast from Maine to Martha's Vineyard, and 
was followed, two years later, by George Weymouth, in nearly 
the same course. In 1607, George Popham came over with a 
colony for settlement in "North Virginia." They erected a 
fort at the mouth of the Kennebec river, and named it Fort 8t. 
George. The death of their leader and the extreme severity of 
the following winter so discouraged them that they returned to 
England the next spriug. In 1614, John Smith, having already 
had an eventful career with the Virginian colony, sailed from 
England with two ships. He made a temporary settlement on 
the island of Monhegan, off the coast of Maine. Leaving a 
portion of his men here, he made an exploration of the coast 
as far south as Cape Cod. He gave the name New England to 
the country ; a name which the king confirmed. 



HISTORIC INTRODUCTION. 



EARLY SETTLEMENTS. 



Virginia. — In 1606, King James granted charters to two 
companies. To tlie London Compan}^ composed of "noble- 
men, gentlemen, and merchants," he granted the territory 
extending north and south between the thirty-fourth and thirty- 
eighth parallels of latitude — about from the mouth of Cape 
Fear river to the mouth of the Potomac river, — to be called 
South Virginia. To the Plymouth Company, composed of 
"knights, gentlemen, and merchants," was granted the terri- 
torj' between the forty-first and forty-fifth parallels of latitude — 
about from the latitude of New York city to the mouth of St. 
Croix river, — to be called North Virginia. The three degrees 
between the two grants was reserved as neutral ground, but 
was open to settlement by both companies, with the condition 
that neither company should settle within one hundred miles of 
any settlement previously made by the other company. Under 
the charters, each Virginia was to be governed by a council, ap- 
pointed by the king, composed of residents of England. The 
local affairs of the colony were to be managed by a council, res- 
idents of the colony, and also appointed by the king. Each 
local council was to choose a presiding officer, or head, who 
should be governor of the colony. No civil or political rights 
were given to the colonists, and the products of their labor were 
to be shared in common. A settlement was made at James- 
town, Virginia, under the charter, in 1607. Two years after- 
wards, an amendment was made to the charter, by which the 
territory was extended so as to include North Carolina and 
Maryland, and to extend westward without limit. The amend- 
ment also changed the character of the government somewhat. 
The council was to be chosen by the company, with power to 
make laws and to appoint a governor who should supersede the 
local council. In 1611, the governor,- Sir Thomas Dale, as- 
signed to each settler a definite tract of land, and the commu- 



HISTORIC INTRODUCTION". 5 

nity of goods was abandoned. A third charter, granted in 1612, 
abolished the council, resident in England, and the company 
governed the colony more directly through a governor of its 
own appointment. In 1619, Governor Yeardley introduced a 
representative feature into the government, and in that year, 
the first American legislative bod}' representing the people 
assembled at Jamestown. This act of Governor Yeardley was 
confirmed two years later, when a written constitution was 
granted, vesting the government of the colony in a governor 
and council appointed by the company, and a general assembly 
elected by the people. This assembly was to consist of two 
members from each borough, and to meet annualh'. In 1624, 
the king took away the charter of the company and governed^ 
the colony as a royal province. The governing agency con- 
sisted of a governor, twelve councilors appointed by the king, 
and the legislative assembly which was retained. 

Massachusetts. — The attempt of George Popham and his 
associates to found a colony at the mouth of the Kennebec 
river was the only attempt of the kind made by the Plymouth 
Company under its charter of 1606. In 1620, the company was 
dissolved, and a new company formed as the* Council of Ply- 
mouth, under a new charter, that granted territory from the 
fortieth to the forty-eighth parallel of latitude, extending from 
near Philadelphia to the bay of Chaleurs, and from the Atlantic 
to the Pacific oceans. In the same 3'ear that this new charter 
was given, a settlement was made within its territory and with- 
out its knowledge. The Pilgrims landed at Plymouth, Decem- 
ber 21, 1620. Before leaving the Mayjloiver, its forty-one 
male immigrants signed a written agreement to obey such laws 
as might be enacted for the common good. The form of gov- 
ernment was very simple. The governor was chosen by the 
people, and he had one assistant. The number of assistants 
was afterwards increased to five, and then to seven. The leg- 
islature was the whole body of the male inhabitants. This was 



6 HISTORIC INTRODUCTION. 

a very near approach to a pure democrac}'. In 1639, the in- 
crease in the number of the inhabitants compelled a resort to a 
representative legislature, each town sending one deputy. For 
two years after the settlement at Plymouth, the settlers shared 
their goods and the products of their industry in common. In 
the third season, land was assigned to each settler, resulting in 
greater industry and thrift. 

As early as 1613, a French colony was found at Mt. Desert 
island, off the coast of Maine, by Captain Argol, of Virginia, 
and broken up. About the time that the landing was effected 
on Plymouth Rock, a few weak settlements were made along 
the coast of Maine, and they gained strength slowly. In the 
meantime, the Council of Plymouth granted portions of this 
territory, from the Piscataqua river to the Penobscot river, to 
several companies. As this territory, in the boundaries named, 
had already been granted to Gorges, serious controversies arose 
over them. In 1639, Saco was a thriving village. In 1626, a 
small colony located at Naumkeag, the Indian name for the 
present city of Salem, in Massachusetts. A portion of this 
colony removed to Charlestown the following year. In 1628, 
a hundred Puritans under John Endicott were added to the 
colony at Salem, sent out by a company that obtained privileges 
from the Council of Plymouth. In 1629, this company re- 
organized under the name "The Governor and Company of 
Massachusetts Bay, in New England," and obtained a charter 
directly from the king. This charter vested the executive 
government in a governor, a deputy-governor, and a council of 
eighteen, with the legislative power reserved to the proprietors. 
The same 3'ear, the company sent additional colonists to 
Charlestown, and, in 1630, appointed John Winthrop governor 
and sent eight hundred colonists with him. These, with the 
several hundreds that soon followed, settled Dorchester, Eox- 
bury, Watertown, Lj^nn, Boston : the last-named became the 
capital of the colony. The following year, two important rules 



HISTORIC INTRODUCTION. 7 

were adopted by the proprietors : (1) only freemen could vote 
for officers, and (2) those only could be made freemen who 
should belong to some church within the colony. The charter- 
boundaries of the colony of Massachusetts bay were to extend 
from a point three miles south of any part of the Charles 
river to a point three miles north of any part of the Merrimac 
river. As this grant covered much of the territory already 
given to Gorges and Mason, it would seem that the source of 
the Merrimac river was not then known. In 1634, the towns 
were allowed to send deputies to help make laws. The 
charter of this colony was recalled in 1684, and the notorious 
Audros appointed colonial governor, by James II. Upon the 
accession of William and Mary, consequent upon the revolu- 
tion of 1688, Andros was sent out of the province, and the 
colony resumed its old form of government, under its old 
charter. Upon the union of the colonies of Plymouth and 
Massachusetts bay, in 1691, a new charter was secured from 
the crown, extending the boundaries so as to include a large 
portion of Maine, over which Massachusetts had asserted juris- 
diction very early, and had purchased, in 1677, the contested 
claims of the heirs of Gorges, so as to make the title complete. 
By this new charter, the governor and other high officers were 
appointed by the king. 

New Hampshire. — A settlement was begun at Portsmouth, 
in 1623, by Gorges and Mason, under a grant from the PI3'- 
mouth Company. About the same time another was made at 
Dover, under the same authority. In 1641, the scattered settle- 
ments were united to Massachusetts, and so remained until 
1679, when the colony was made a royal province, governed 
by a president and council appointed by the king, and a house 
of representatives elected by the people. This colony shared 
with the others in the oppressions and exactions of the Andros 
government. After the colonies were freed from Andros, the 
colony was replaced under the jurisdiction of Massachusetts. 



8 HISTORIC INTKODUCTION. 

A separation took place in 1692, followed by a reunion, in 
1699, which continued until a final separation, in 1741. Thence- 
forward, until 1776, the colon}" continued as a ro^^al province. 

New York. — Henry Hudson discovered, in 1609, the river 
that bears his name. The first settlement was made by some 
Dutch colonists, on Manhattan island, in 1623, under the 
patronage of the Dutch West India Company. In 1664, the 
king of England granted this district of country, including a 
portion of Connecticut and New Jersey, to his brother, Duke 
of York and Albany. Possession by force was taken at once. 
The colony was ruled by a governor appointed by the duke. 
In 1683, an assembly of representatives was granted to the 
people. This assemblj- established a charter of liberties which 
became the basis of a representative government for the colony. 
In 1685, the duke became king of England, and he withdrew 
the privileges which he had granted as duke. He forbade the 
legislative assembly and prohibited printing-presses in the 
colony. The notorious Andros became its governor at the same 
time that he was sent to oppress the other colonies. In 1691, a 
successor to Andros arrived, and affairs resumed their former 
methods, the colony being ruled as a royal province. 

Connecticut. — The Dutch claimed the Connecticut river as 
the boundary of their colony, and built forts upon the river. 
There were also Dutch settlers within the limits of the state at 
a very early date and before English colonists found it. The 
first proprietor of Connecticut, under grant from- the Council 
of Plymouth, was the Earl of Warwick. He transferred his 
interests to Lord Say and Seal and Lord Brooke, in 1631. The 
grant extended from the Narragansett bay to the Pacific ocean. 
In 1633, without any authority from the proprietors, and with- 
out their knowledge, a small company of emigrants from the 
colony of Plymouth established the beginning of a colony at 
Windsor. The following year, people flocked into the valley 
of the Connecticut from many towns of the Massachusetts and 



HISTORIC INTRODUCTION. 9 

Plymonth colonies, and in 1635 settlements were made at 
Wethersfield, Hartford, and other points. In 1639, the colo- 
nies of Windsor, Hartford, and Wethersfield, finding them- 
selves outside the limits of any colonial government, organized 
one government for those colonies, now the Connecticut colony. 
A constitution was adopted, providing for a governor, a deputy- 
governor, and other magistrates, and for a legislative assembly, 
all to be chosen by the freemen of the towns forming the col- 
ony. In 1638, New Haven was founded by a company of set- 
tlers from London. The next year, they organized a govern- 
ment, with the Jewish Scriptures as their code of laws. The 
right to vote and to hold office was restricted to church mem- 
bers. In 1665, under a charter granted three years previously, 
the colonies of Connecticut and New Haven were united, and 
became the colony of Connecticut. The charter confirmed the 
privileges of the constitution of the Connecticut colony of 1639. 
In 1687, upon his arrival in the colony. Sir Edmund Anclros 
made a demand upon the legislature for its charter. The de- 
mand was evaded, and the debate was prolonged until the even- 
ing. At a signal, the lights were extinguished, and Captain 
Wadsworth seized the charter from the table and concealed it 
in a hollow oak-tree near b}^ TJiis tree became famous as the 
Charter Oak. Andros ruled the colony until his expulsion, 
when the charter was recovered and the old order of affairs was 
resumed. 

Maryland. — Lord Baltimore received from the king a grant 
of land upon the Chesapeake bay. He was a Roman Catholic, 
and desired to secure a refuge for his co-religionists. Under his 
auspices, a colony settled near the present city of Baltimore, in 
1634. The charter secured to the colonists a share in the legis- 
lation of the province, and exempted their property from taxa- 
tion by the home government. The first session of the legislature 
was an assemblage of the freemen of the province. A repre- 
sentative legislature was established in 1639. This legislature 



10 HISTORIC INTRODUCTION. 

was afterwards divided into two bodies ; the members of the 
one (higher) braucli were appointed by the proprietor, and the 
members of the other (lower) branch were elected by the people. 
Religious toleration was established by law, in 1649; it had 
already existed as a fact from the foundation of the colony. 
Upon the accession of William and Mary to the throne of P^ng- 
land, there were doubts concerning the loyalty of the proprietor 
and people of the province to the new sovereigns. The rights 
of Lord Baltimore were thereupon revoked, and the colony 
became a royal province. In 1715, the colony was restored to 
the heirs of Lord Baltimore, and it remained a proprietary prov- 
ince until the Revolution. 

Rhode Island. — Roger Williams was banished from the Mas- 
sachusetts colony, in 1636. He and his associates betook them- 
selves to the head of Narragansett bay, where they obtained 
from Cauonicus and Miantonomoh, the chief sachems of the 
tribe of Narragansett Indians, a tract of laud on which Providence 
was founded. A short time previous to the arrival of Williams, 
a settlement had been made by William Blackstine (or Black- 
stone), a few miles north, and. on the river that bears his name. 
The government established by Williams was a pure democracy. 
All its functions, executive, legislative, and judicial, were exer- 
cised by the citizens assembled in a mass meeting. The majority 
ruled in all civil matters. It was ordered in the beginning that 
the civil power had no control over the religious opinions of men. 
In 1638, William Coddiiigton and a small party, who had been 
persecuted in Massachusetts, followed Williams to Providence, 
and thence removed to the island . afterwards called Rhode 
Island, which they purchased of the Indians. Both settlements 
increased by the influx of the persecuted from other colonies. 
The colony of Rhode Island adopted a government nearly 
identical with that which had been established at Providence, 
but the chief magistrate was called " judge," in imitation of the 
Jewish government. The two colonies remained distinct until 



HISTORIC INTRODUCTION. 11 

1644, when a charter was obtained which united them into one 
province. The charter continued tlie control of civil and re- 
ligious affairs in the hands of the people. In 1647, some 
changes were made in the form of the government, by reason of 
the increase in the number of its inhabitants. " Freedom of 
faith and worship was assured to all — the first formal and 
legal establishment of religious liberty ever promulgated, 
whether in Europe or in America." In 1663, another charter was 
obtained, which was similar to the one granted to the Connec- 
ticut colony, and named the colony " Rhode Island and Provi- 
dence Plantations." One of the earliest laws passed by the 
legislature of the new colony restricted the suffrage to the 
holders of real estate of a certain amount and to their oldest 
sons. Andros treated this colony as he had treated the other 
northern colonies, and he took away its charter and ruled it 
through a council appointed by himself. Upon the dethrone- 
ment of King James and the expulsion of Andros, the charter 
was resumed and the former governiuent was re-instated. 

Delaware. — This state received its first settlers near the 
present city of Wilmington, in 1638. Though not included in 
the grant to the Duke of York and Albany, it was included by 
him in his government, and was transferred by him to William 
Penn, in 1682. Thereafter, until 1702, it received the same 
treatment which Penn gave to his other province. At that 
date, 1702, it was allowed to secede to the extent that it had a 
separate legislative assembly, though it was still within the 
jurisdiction of the governor of Pennsylvania. 

The Carolinas. — In 1660, a settlement was made by a party 
from some of the New England colonies, at the mouth of Cape 
Fear river. The colony did not prosper, and many of its set- 
tlers deserted it. Five years later, a party from the Barbadoes 
ro-inforced the colony, and it was thereafter called the Claren- 
don colony. In 1663, Lord Clarendon and seven associates 
received from the king a patent for a large territory south of 



12 HISTORIC INTEODUCTIONo 

Vii'ginia. Two yea.YS afterwards, the patent was amended so as 
to extend the boundaries of the grant from the northern limit 
of North Carolina to St. Augustine. When the proprietors 
took possession, they found the settlement already" made by the 
New Englanders, and also a colony of planters from Virginia, 
on Albemarle sound, called the Albemarle colony. This 
latter colony had a government giving to the people liberty of 
conscience and a voice in legislation. In 1670, the Carteret 
colony was founded at old Charleston, and a representative 
govei'nment organized. John Locke drew up a grand model 
of a government for this colony. The scheme was nominally 
in force for twenty-five years, but it was never carried out, as 
it was not adapted to the people in their condition. The three 
colonies were but one province, though they were so distant 
from one another that they had two governors. In 1677, upon 
an attempt to enforce the Navigation Act against a vessel from 
New England, the people of the northern colony rebelled, im- 
prisoned the governor and some of the council, and organized a 
temporary popular government. The}' remained, in the mean- 
time, under the dominion of the proprietors, and loyal to them. 
In 1729, the colony was divided into North Carolina and South 
Carolina, and each became a royal province, with all colonial 
oflScers appointed by the king. 

New Jersey. — This was a part of the territory granted to 
the Duke of York and Albany. The first settlement is usually 
dated 1664, at Elizabethtown, b}- Puritans. But, before it was 
granted to the duke, it had been coveted by the Dutch, and 
parties had settled upon its edge not a very long time after their 
countrymen had colonized Manhattan island. The duke trans- 
ferred his claim to Lord Berkeley and Sir Carteret. The pro- 
prietors gave to the colonists a liberal constitution, in order to 
encourage settlers. This provided for a legislature elected bj^ 
the people, and a governor and council appointed by the pro- 
prietors. In 1682, the colony was divided, each proprietor 



HISTORIC INTRODUCTION. 13 

taking one-half, and each half having a separate government. 
Andros took possession of the two colonies when he seized the 
other northern colonies, and ruled until his deposition, after 
which the former governments were resumed. In 1702, the 
proprietors surrendered their powers to the crown. The king 
re-united the two colonies as New Jersey, and placed the prov- 
ince under the governor of New York, allowing the legislative 
assembly to be retained. In 1738, it was made into a separate 
province, and was permitted to retain the constitution and form 
of government given to it by the proprietors. 

Pennsylvania. — This state was granted to William Penn in 
1681, and he at once sent out a colony to take possession. The 
following year he prepared a form of government for his colo- 
nists, vesting all power in the proprietor, or in a governor 
appointed by him, and in a council and legislature elected by 
the people. Among the first laws passed by the legislature was 
one ordering that no one believing in Almighty God should be 
molested in his religious views, and making faith in Jesus Christ 
a qualification for voting and holding oflfice. At a subsequent 
time, Penn granted a charter of liberties, extending the privileges 
before given. Upon the accession of William and Mary, the 
loyalty of Penn to tliose sovereigns was suspected, and the 
province was taken from him and placed under the immediate 
government of New York. In 1694, the government of Eng- 
land became convinced of Penn's loyalty, and the province was 
restored to him. In 1701, Penn granted to his colony a charter 
still more liberal than the former one,' under which the colony 
continued until the Eevolutiou. 

Georgia. — In 1732, a grant was made to James Oglethorpe 
of a tract of land to extend from the Savannah river to the 
Altamaha river, in trust for the poor. In the settlement made 
the following year by Oglethorpe himself, the settlers were not 
permitted to become owners of the land which they cultivated. 
The colony did not flourish, and, in 1752, the trustees in whose 



14 HISTORIC INTRODUCTION. 

hands Oglethorpe had left the colony surrendered their trust to 
the crown. The colony thereupon became a royal province, 
all the officers being appointed by the king. 

TENDENCY TOWAED UNITY. 

Many of the earlier settlements in the colonies were made as 
individual enterprises, — unconnected with others. Plymouth 
was peopled by a band of men and women who had no assist- 
ance from, and no reliance upon, any other colony or any gov- 
ernment. Salem and Charlestown received their first inhabitants 
without any aid from company or government. The first settlers 
along the coast of Maine were scattered bauds, who appeared 
to seek homes ^t distances from others, with whom they had no 
connections. In Rhode Island, two settlements were made at 
an early day as separate colonies. In most of these cases, each 
settlement organized a government of its own and for itself, 
and without any reference to any neighboring settlement or to 
any other government. In New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Del- 
aware, there were early scattered settlements of Dutch, Swede, 
or Finn, and they seem to have been without an}- but a crude 
sort of government. The two settlements first made in North 
Carolina were independent of each other and of the world, and 
each organized a government for itself. As already shown, the 
settlements that were made under the direction and control of 
companies or proprietors of colonial territory were supplied with 
forms of government, — a separate set of forms for each sepa- 
rate colony. 

In process of time, these colonies became cognizant of each 
other's presence, and the}' made acquaintances, one with another. 
As the Indian difficulties crowded upon the settlers, there grew up 
a deske for association and co-operation. At first the co-opera- 
tion was temporary, formed for a special occasion. As these oc- 
casions of need became more frequent, and as the advantages of 
co-operation became known by actual experience, the tendency 



HISTORIC INTRODUCTION. 15 

grew toward a permanent co-operation by consolidation of set- 
tlements. Thus, in 1639, as already shown, the colonies of 
Hartford, Wethersfield, and Windsor united into one colony, 
known as the Connecticut colony, and was joined by the 
Saybrooke settlement five years later. In 1665, New Haven 
joined the union, and thenceforth these formed the colony of 
Connecticut. 

In 1643, the four colonies of Plymouth, Massachusetts, Con- 
necticut, and New Hampshire formed a confederacy, called the 
United Colonies of New England. The object was '' the better 
to provide for their common security and welfare." The con- 
federacy had control of such methods only as related to the 
defense and safety of the four colonies, and were managed by 
a commission consisting of two delegates from each colony. 
Each colony had charge of its local affairs as heretofore. The 
jsettlements of Providence and Rhode Island united in 1644, 
and soon afterwards assumed the joint name, " Rhode Island 
and Providence Plantations." As stated befoi'e, the settlers in 
New Hampshire were united to Massachusetts during eighty-five 
years prior to the Revolution. Soon after 1652, Massachusetts 
asserted authority over the settlements of Maine, as far east as 
the Kennebec river. By the new charter of 1691, the jurisdiction 
of Massachusetts was extended eastward so as to include all of 
Maine and Nova Scotia. By this same charter, the strong 
colonies of Plymouth and Massachusetts were permanently 
united as Massachusetts. 

The movements in the colonies south of the Hudson river 
were not always and altogether in the direction of union. New 
Jersey was divided in 1676, and so remained until 1702. Dela- 
ware became a part of Pennsylvania by grant from the Duke 
of York and Albany. It remained in the jurisdiction of that 
province until 1702, when it was allowed to partially withdraw 
and to set up a legislature of its own. The union was wholly 
severed during the war of the Revolution. When first settled, 



16 HISTORIC INTEODUCTION. 

North Carolina and South Carohna constituted one province, 
with three separate colonies. In 1729, a division was made, 
and they become two colonies. 

Besides the tendency of the colonies to co-operate and unite, 
in their earl^' history, as stated above, there may be traced 
through their later history a tendency to form more extensive 
alliances, outgrowths of a national idea. It is not doubtful 
that the earlier alliances and unions, made by the colonies when 
they were weak settlements, were faint beginnings of the same 
idea, but not developed for many years. When the colonies 
were strong enough to attract the attention and the cupidity of 
European governments, they had more trouble than the savage 
Indians gave to them. They became, of necessity, embroiled 
in all the wars that affected England. France and England 
were hereditary and relentless foes. The colonies and posses- 
sions of those two nations in America were not distant from 
each other, and, in some places, the claims of the one over- 
lapped the claims of the other. As the two nations were in a 
state of almost chronic warfare, the English colonies had to 
defend themselves against the French armies, the French colo- 
nies, and the Indians. Then it was that the colonies most felt 
the need of more thorough alliances and more active and effi- 
cient co-operation. Then the idea of nationality displayed 
wonderful development. As early as 1697, William Penn sug- 
gested and urged a union of all the colonies. Later, in 1722, 
Daniel Coxe, of New Jersey, called the attention of the colo- 
nies to the same idea. Benjamin Franklin and other statesmen 
were fully alive to the importance of the growing sentiment, 
and aided in its dissemination. Even the English ministry 
adopted the idea. In 1754, the threatened war between Eng- 
land and France seeming to be inevitable, the government of 
England suggested to the colonies that they unite in some 
scheme for a common defense. Accordingly, July 4 of that 
year, a conference was held at Albany, consisting of delegates 



HISTOEIC INTRODUCTION. 17 

from all the colonies of New Euglancl, from New York, Penn- 
sylvania, and Maryland. At this conference, a plan, drawn by 
Benjamin Franklin, was adopted. By this plan, a governor- 
general was to be appointed by the king, and a council of dele- 
gates was to be elected by the people of the colonies ; these 
were to constitute the government of the united colonies, with 
power to pass and to enforce laws for raising money, levying 
troops, regulating trade, and laying duties. The governor- 
general was to have a veto upon the laws passed by the coun- 
cil. The plan was rejected by the colonies and by the king : 
the colonies thouglit that it gave too much power to the king, 
and the king thought that it gave too much power to the people. 

In 1765, during the excitement growing out of the passage 
and attempted enforcement of the Stamp Act, the legislature of 
Massachusetts sent circular letters to all the other colonies, in- 
viting them to send delegates to a congress, which should meet 
in New York, to deliberate upon the condition of affairs and to 
suggest measures for the common welfare. On the assembling 
of the congress, October 7, delegates were present from Massa- 
chusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, 
Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, and South Carolina. The 
other colonies were in full sympathy with the objects of the 
congress. This was known as the Colonial Congress. It drew 
up a Declaration of Rights, asserting that only their own repre- 
sentatives had power to tax them, and only their own juries to 
try them. It also sent a petition to the king and a memorial to 
Parliament. Two years later, upon the passage of the act im- 
posing the tea-tax, the legislature of Massachusetts again sent 
letters to the other colonies, calling for a union of all, in order 
to enforce a demand for a redress of grievances, and it refused 
to withdraw the call at the demand of the king. 

As early as 1773, most of the colonies appointed committees 
of correspondence, in order to keep up an interchange of opin- 
ion and suggestion with each other, and to intensifv the senti- 



18 HISTORIC INTEODUCTION. 

ment of national unity. The following 3'ear, the provincial 
assembly of Massachusetts convened at Salem and adopted 
resolutions calliug for a general congress of all the colonies, at 
the same time appointing five delegates to that congress. The 
other colonies accepted the idea of a congress, and appointed 
delegates. The congress met at Philadelphia, September 5, 
1774. Tti,e governor of Georgia prevented the election of dele- 
gates by that colony ; all the other colonies were represented. 
This congress adopted a second Declaration of Rights, and 
recommended an American association pledged to non-inter- 
course with England. Before adjourning, it provided for 
another congress, to be held in May, the next year. This con- 
gress of 1774 is known as the First Continental Congress. Its 
name is a guaranty of the decay of the colonial sentiment, and 
the growth of the national idea. In the meantime, the assem- 
bly of Massachusetts met and resolved itself into a provincial 
congress. It then proceeded to organize a body of militia ready 
to take up arms and to march at a minute's notice ; from this 
they became known as " minute men." A committee of safety 
was appointed to have charge of matters of defense. Other 
colonies promptly followed the example set by Massachusetts. 

A second continental congress convened May 10, 1775, at 
Philadelphia. It sent a petition to the king, appointed a com- 
mittee of secret correspondence with the colonies and with 
European nations, and assumed the authority of a government 
over the colonies as The United Colonies of America. The 
royal authority substantially closed, in all the colonies, during 
the year 1776, by the withdrawal of the governors. In June of 
that year, the congress, by resolution, declared "that these 
united colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independ- 
ent states," and appointed a committee to draw up a proper 
declaration. The committee reported the Declaration of Inde- 
pendence, and congress adopted it July 4, 1776. More than a 
year before this, however, the people of Mecklenberg, N.C., 



HISTORIC INTRODUCTION. 19 

had declared their independence of England. On the 17th of 
November, 1777, Congress agreed to articles of confederation 
of the colonies, and sent them out to the colonies for their adop- 
tion: They were duly adopted, and the confederate govern- 
ment was organized at once. 

When the war of the Revolution had closed, and efforts were 
made to create a national government on the basis of the Arti- 
cles of Confederation, the weakness of those Articles became 
painfully apparent. The statesmen began, quite early, to dis- 
cuss methods of relief. Earl}- in 1786, the legislature of Vir- 
ginia advised a convention for establishing a better system of 
commercial regulations. Pursuant to this action, a convention 
was called to meet in Annapolis, in September. As five states 
only had sent delegates, no action was taken by the delegates 
present, except to unite in a call for a convention to revise the 
Articles of Confederation. The colonies responded to this call 
and sent delegates to Philadelphia, in May, 1787 ; Rhode Island 
being the only colony not represented. George Washington 
presided over the convention, which was composed of the ablest 
men of the colonies. The convention soon decided that it was 
not advisable to amend the Articles of Confederation, and it 
proceeded to form a constitution upon a different plan. The 
constitution was completed, adopted, and signed, September 
17, 1787. The several states ratified it as follows : — 

Delaware December 7, 1787. 

Pennsylvania December 12, 1787. 

New Jersey December 18, 1787. 

Georgia January 2, 1788. 

Massachusetts February 6, 1788. 

Maryland April 28, 1788. 

Soiith Carolina May 23, 1788. 

Connecticut June 9, 1788. 

New Hampshire June 21, 1788. 

Virginia June 26, 1788. 

New York July 26, 1788. 

North Carolina November 21, 1789. 

Eiiocle Island ........ May 29, 1790. 



20 HISTORIC INTRODUCTION. 

As provided by itself, tlie constitution took effect June 21, 
1788, upon its ratification by tlie ninth state. It could affect 
those only which ratified it. Soon after it went into opera- 
tion, it was ratified bj' the remaining states, and became the 
constitution of the New Nation. 

When the time came for the organization of a new govern- 
ment, the people were prepared for a popular form, such as the 
nation now has. With the exception of Georgia, all the 
colonies had enjo3^ed something of a popular form of govern- 
ment, and most of them had felt the satisfaction that results 
from a legislature elected by the people and responsible to 
them. Some of them had even had a double legislature, though 
in a crude form, the council being a sort of upper house in 
some of the colonies. Tlii-ee had tried a pure democracy, for a 
time. Most of them, by co-operation with sister colonies, had 
known by experience that "in union there is strength," and 
this had been more fully impressed during the struggle for 
independence. That last great struggle had taught them the 
necessity for an executive and a judicial department of the 
government. The Colonial Congress and the Continental 
Congresses were felt to have been, as they really were, but 
committee-delegates from the colonies for advice. A con- 
federacy had been tried ; its defects were found to be serious. 
The people were prepared for a union of the colonies into a 
nation, having all the semblance, character, and powers of a 
nation. The people were prepared, also, to insist, if need be, 
upon a form of government in which all political power should 
reside in themselves. Having tasted, though but daintily, of 
the sweets of a government free from hereditary rulers, and 
without the restraints and oppressions of arbitrary authority, 
they were prepared for a government of the people, to be ad- 
ministered by the people and for the people. We shall see, as 
we study the provisions of the constitution, how they wrought 
out the idea of nationality and of freedom, which had been 
growing for more than a century. 



PREAMBLE OF THE CONSTITUTION. 



The courts do not regard the preamble of a law or of a con- 
stitution as a part of that law or of that constitution. But 
when any portion of a law or constitution is not quite clear, or 
is not easily understood, the courts will turn to the preamble 
for explanation. In the historical and political study of a con- 
stitution of a state or a nation, the preamble may be a very 
important part. This is especially the case with the preamble 
of the constitution of. the United States. It explains the 
necessity of the constitution, the purposes of it, and by whom 
it was formed. A reference to the preamble of the constitution 
has settled more than one point of political discussion concern- 
ing the extent and scope of several constitutional provisions. 
The preamble states seven points concerning the origin and 
purpose of the constitution. 

1. By whom formed. — This preamble decides who formed 
the constitution and who constitute the nation. The Articles 
of Confederation, under which the Thirteen Colonies had been 
united during the larger portion of the period since the begin- 
ning of the Revolutionary War, were articles of agreement 
between the colonies. They united the colonies into a con- 
federacy, but they did not form them into one nation. Under 
these articles each colony was as independent of all others as it 
had been before. Although the}^ contained agreements that no 
colony would act independently in certain matters, there was 
no means provided by which those agreements could be en- 
forced. In fact, there were several sections of those articles 
under which some of the colonies refused to act. No nation 



22 PKEAMBLE OF THE CONSTITUTION. 

can be formed of sections of coimtiy which are free to obey or 
disobey the provisions of the national constitution. Under 
the constitution the colonies became a Nation. All the rights 
which each colony had possessed were given up, and each one 
thereby became a state in the nation, with such riglits of inde- 
pendent action as the constitution allowed, and no more. In the 
Articles of Confederation, the colonies styled themselves states, 
but their character as states was altogether different from their 
character as states under the constitution. The preamble ex- 
pressly declares : "We, the People of the United States, do 
ordain and establish this constitution." After its adoption by 
the convention, it was submitted to a popular convention in 
each colony. The members of those popular conventions were 
elected by the people of each colony, after a thorough discus- 
sion of the constitution. This adoption of the constitution 
changed the colonies into states, and changed the people of the- 
colonies into one nation. Discussion is likely to arise always, 
concerning the extent of the powers given to the general gov- 
ernment and concerning the rights and powers reserved to the 
separate states by the constitution, but it is clear that the people 
of the United States are, under the constitution. One Nation. 

2. More Perfect Union. — The principal purpose of the Arti- 
cles of Confederation was to enable the colonies to act together 
in resisting the aggressions of England. For that one purpose, 
even, it was not perfect. But after the close of the war, an 
attempt to govern the colonies under those articles showed the 
weakness of the confederacy. There were four principal weak 
points in the confederate system : (a) There was no central 
legislative authority. There was a so-called congress, com- 
posed of delegates from each colony, but its authority seems to 
have been restricted to the settlement of disputes between them- 
selves, and to representing the colonies in their intercourse with 
foreign nations in war and in peace. The congress was simply 
a committee of the colonies, (b) There was no central execu- 



PREAMBLE OF THE CONSTITUTION. 23 

tive authority. (c) There was no judicial system. The only 
semblance of such a system was the authority given to the 
congress to determine disputes between the colonies, and dis- 
putes arising from conflicting grants of land by different colonies, 
(d) There was no national treasury. The congress fixed the 
proportion of mone}' due from each colony for the general 
expenses ; but it had no method of collecting it. Without the 
four marks of national authority named above there could be 
no nation. In addition to these, there were no means provided 
for keeping the colonies together if they did not wish to so 
remain. In name, the articles were to be perpetual ; but there 
was no method provided for making them so in fact, and no 
means furnished for compelling a colony to perform its agree- 
ments. The weakness of the confederacy was found in this : 
the colonies acted and were acted upon as independent bodies. 
Under the constitution, the states are hardly known in the 
administration of the government, but the government and its 
officers act upon the individual citizens. It will be noticed that 
the word "union" means a condition of being one ; hence, a 
perfect union must be a perfect oneness. The colonies could 
not retain their independence and be states in a perfect union. 

3. To Establish Justice. — This was a second object of the 
constitution. This is the same as saying that the constitution 
was formed for the purpose of protecting all its citizens in the 
enjoyment of all their rights. (The student should trace 
" justice " to its Latin root-word "jus," right.) 

4. Domestic Tranquillity. — There can be little, if any, enjoy- 
ment of rights when society is disordered. The framers of the 
constitution had realized that fact during the Revolutionary 
War. Turmoil and trouble arise mainW from injustice and- 
oppression ; hence the constitution aims to secure tranquillity 
through the establishment of justice. 

5. Common Defense. — The formation of the confederacy 
was the result of a necessity to provide for the defense of the 



24 PREAMBLE OF THE CONSTITUTION. 

people of the colonies. All nations must provide for their 
defense, must always be ready to resist attack. All govern- 
ments have this as one of the necessary objects of their exist- 
ence. This means more than simply a defense of the national 
existence, of its governmental character. It must mean a de- 
fense of all parts of the nation and all the citizens of the 
nation. Upon the modern and best theory of government, the 
humblest citizen of a nation is entitled to the whole power of 
the government, police, military, and naval, to protect him in 
the enjoyment of his rights at home and abroad. 

6. General Welfare. — Monarchs are not always very solici- 
tous about the welfare of their subjects ; they seldom are except 
so far as that welfare can help them in their ambition. This is 
because the interests of the rulers are not the same in monar- 
chies as the interests of the ruled. In the formation of the 
government of the United States it is provided that the rulers 
and the ruled shall be the same, and that their interests shall 
be the same. Everybody is thus interested in the welfare of 
everybody else. It was a great step in the history of govern- 
ments when the promotion of the general welfare of the people 
was made a prominent purpose in the construction of a form of 
government. 

7. Secure Liberty. — It would seem that, when justice is 
established, domestic tranquillity assured, and the general wel- 
fare promoted, the blessings of liberty would be sure to follow. 
But the patriots who framed the constitution chose to enumerate 
this as one of the objects of the government, so that there could 
be no chance for a mistake on this subject. The war of the 
Revolution had just closed, and the right to liberty had been 
secured-, but they knew that liberty itself could be secured and 
made permanent only by a wise, liberal, and just government. 
Such a government the convention attempted to frame. This 
section of the preamble shows that it was intended that the 
form of government should be permanent. 



BILL OF RIGHTS. 

oo>S<o-o 

The convention adopted the constitution, September 17, 1787, 
and its members from all the colonies, except those from Rhode 
Island, signed it. When the constitution came before the peo- 
ple of the colonies for ratification, it was found to be deficient 
in an important particular, — it did not recognize in words many 
of those personal rights which the people believed themselves 
to possess. Some of those rights had been announced in the 
Declaration of Independence, and for them they had carried 
the war of revolution to a successful close. In order to avoid 
the loss of time and expense of another convention, it was 
generally agreed that the first Congress should propose proper 
amendments covering the deficieuc3-. With this understanding, 
the constitution was ratified by colonies enough for it to take 
effect. Two colonies, Rhode Island and North Carolina, did 
not ratify it until after the adoption by Congress of the pro- 
posed amendments. These amendments embrace what is known 
in state constitutions as Bill of Rights. They recognize and 
secure fundamental rights which no legislature, no decree of 
courts, no act of the executive authoritj', can violate. They 
are considered, in the language of the Declaration of Inde- 
pendence, "inherent and inalienable." An inspection of the 
constitution will show that it contains six provisions which 
might be embraced in the Bill of Rights. All the others are 
found in the amendments. It will be more convenient and add 
to clearness of apprehension to bring them all together under 
one head. 

1. Habeas Corpus. — When a person is illegally imprisoned, 
he makes application to a court for his release, stating the facts 



26 BILL OF EIGHTS. 

that show the illegality of his imprisonment. The court then 
issues an order to a sheriff or constable, directing that the im- 
prisoned person be brought before it for inqniry into the cause 
of the imprisonment. In early times, in England, the orders 
of the courts were written in Latin. Many of the orders of 
courts are called writs. This writ began, habeas corpus, mean- 
ing, "you may have the body" of the person named. The 
right to apply for this writ is one of the safeguards of a free 
citizen. But for it, a person illegally imprisoned might have 
no method by which he could prove his innocence. There 
does not seem to be any reason why the privilege of applying 
for this writ should ever be suspended ; but it is a wise provis- 
ion refusing its suspension in times of peace. This provision 
is found in section nine of Article I. 

2. Bill of Attainder. — In the same section of Article I., it 
was provided that no bill of attainder shall be passed. This is 
a direct restriction upon the powers of Congress, but it has a 
more general effect. The restriction is upon all the officers of 
the government ; for if Congress should pass such a bill, the 
oath of every officer of the government will compel him to re- 
fuse to enforce it, and the courts would be compelled to declare 
it illegal. A " bill of attainder" is a special law that passes a 
decree of conviction, upon the person named in it, of treason 
or other crime, with sentence of death or forfeiture of estate, 
or both. Such bills were not uncommon during the troublous 
times of English history. The accused had little, if any, oppor- 
tunity to make a defense. The injustice of this system of trial 
for crimes was so apparent that the framers of the constitution 
provided against its use in this country. 

3. Ex Post Facto Law. — The same section of the constitu- 
tion also forbids the passage of an ex post facto law. This term 
means, " after the deed." It is usually applied to such laws as 
relate to actions already past. As every one is supposed to 
guide his conduct, civil and criminal, by the laws in force at the 



BILL OF EIGHTS. 27 

time that he performs an action, it is not considered just that 
one sliould be punished for a crime more severely than the law 
provided when the crime was committed. Thus, a man may be 
willing to incnr the penalty of imprisonment in the penitentiarj- 
for horse-stealing, while he might not steal the horse if the 
penalty had been death. Therefore, after a man had stolen a 
horse, when the penalty of the law is imprisonment, it would be 
a l)reach of faith and an injustice to change the penalty to 
death, and then enforce it upon him. And so with reference 
to other crimes. No increase of a penalty for a crime can be 
visited upon a person for a crime committed before the increase. 
So, a law cannot make a new crime, and then punish a person 
for a deed committed before tlie law made that deed a crime. 
In civil transactions, the rule is the same : no change in a law 
can affect any contract or other civil transaction made before 
the change. This rule is founded so strongW in our sense of 
justice that it might be said to protect an inherent right. 

4. Jury. — The right to a trial by jury, when charged with a 
crime, dates from very early times in English history, and, in 
the law of England, means liy a jury of twelve persons. In 
England, as in other monarchies, all crimes that were committed 
were committed against the king or monarch. All prosecutions 
for crime were brought in the name of the king. The king ap- 
pointed the judges and all the other officers of the court. Tlie 
subject, therefore, had no security when charged with criine. He 
could be convicted, if the king so desired, without regard to his 
guilt or innocence. It was a serious blow at kingl}^ power, 
when the king of England was compelled to allow the trial of 
his subjects by a jury of their peers. Ever since then, the 
right to a trial hy a jury has been considered so important that 
no king of England could retain his head, if he should tr}^ to 
abrogate the right. The reason for insisting upon a jury in the 
United States is not so strong as in England. Here the people 
are the rulers ; they elect the judges and most of the other 



28 BILL OF EIGHTS. 

officers of the courts, and all prosecutions are brought in the 
name of the people, or of the state. The people, just emerg- 
ino' from a war with England, thought it safer to insist upon 
this right (Art. III., sec. 2). 

5. Rights in Other States. — In the second section of Article 
IV., it is provided that "the citizens of each state shall be 
entitled to all privileges and immunities of citizens of the sev- 
eral states." There is much question as to the full meaning of 
this provision ; the courts are neither clear nor uniform in their 
attempts at interpretation. It would appear to be one of the 
provisions enforcing the idea of one nation. While each state 
is permitted to determine for itself the qualifications of all who 
may vote or hold office within it, it cannot prohibit the citizens 
of other states residing and doing business within its limits. 
Thus, the citizens of any state, by residing within another 
state, may enjoy all the privileges and protection enjoyed by 
any citizen of that state. This section would seem to place all 
citizens of all the states upon an equality, except in respect to 
the affirmative rights that are considered inherent and inalien- 
able. These cannot be called privileges. 

6. Religious Freedom. — The last clause of Article VI. says 
that " no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification 
to any office or public trust under the United States." The 
scope of this section is verj' broad, very much broader than, at 
first, appears. It means that no one has a right to regulate 
our conscience, or our worship, for us ; nor has any body of 
people, whether legislature, congress, or nation, any such right. 
That a person belongs to any particular church, or does not 
belong to any, or that he entertains a certain religions belief, 
cannot be urged against him as a qualification or a disqualifi- 
cation for office or for jury service. This does not say, nor 
does it mean, that the nation, or the law, or |he courts, only, 
shall not apply the religious test : it means that no one has a 
right to apply that test. If a voter votes for, or against, a 



BILL OF EIGHTS. 29 

candidate solely because of that candidate's religious belief, 
such voter violates the letter and spirit of this part of the con- 
stitution. Upon the best theory of government, the secular 
authorities have nothing to do with a person's religious belief. 
Americans do not believe that the conscience should be placed 
under the control of men. They believe that all men should 
be protected in the full and free enjoyment of their religious 
beliefs, and they emphasized that belief in this provision of tlie 
constitution. 

7. (Amendment 1.) — At the time of the formation of the 
constitution, nearly all the governments of Europe had an es- 
tablished religion ; that is, a religious system which was sup- 
ported by the government and to which each subject had to 
assent, in some degree. Tliese governments also prohibited, 
some of them always, some of them sometimes, au}' criticism 
of the government, by individuals, either orally or in writing 
or print, and did not allow the people to meet peacefully for 
a discussion of their relations with the government, nor to peti- 
tion the government. The people of the colonies had keenly 
felt the injustice and the actual hardships of these prohibitions. 
They came to regard all these acts as perfect!}' innocent, and 
as rights that belonged to them as human beings. They con- 
stitute a portion of the means by which the people can enjoy 
the right to "the pursuit of happiness." Accordingly, the 
first amendment to the constitution contains a recognition of 
the rights of the people in all those respects. Of course, this 
provision does not allow disorderly meetings, nor conspiracies 
to resist the execution of the laws, nor attempts to overturn 
the government. 

8. (Amendment 2.) — Rulers who do not have the love and 
affection of tlieir subjects cannot safel}' allow those subjects to 
keep and control fire-arms. It is a matter of history that the 
subjects of those European governments which furnished the 
early settlers of the United States did not have that privilege. 



30 BILL OF EIGHTS. 

As has been shown, the framers of the constitution intended 
that the rulers and ruled should be the same ; that there should 
be no fight between the government and the people. In the 
early history of tlie American colonies, the safety- of the 
people often depended upon arms which they kept in defiance 
of the government, more than upon any army, and the danger 
from Indians had not altogether ceased when the constitution 
was formed. A standing army was not within the contempla- 
tion of the convention. A government that would trust its 
citizens with freedom to keep and to bear arms must preserve 
its character for justice, and it was partly for this purpose 
that the right of the citizens to bear arms was formally 
acknowledged in the constitution. 

9. (Amendment 3.) — This amendment recognizes that each 
man's house is his castle, to be his defense against the govern- 
ment as well as against his neighbors. In times of peace there 
can be no necessity for any encroachment upon a man's private 
dwelling. A necessity may exist in times of war, but it should 
be exercised only in the manner which the law has deliberately 
provided. Such encroachments upon private rights should not 
be left to the irresponsible discretion of any officer. This pro- 
vision virtually condemns the practice so common, once, in 
Europe. 

10. (Amendment 4.) — There can be no liberty among the 
people without this protection. No person is free if his home 
or his property can be invaded or seized at the pleasure of an- 
other. The right to the uninterrupted enjoyment of one's 
property is included in the right to " the pursuit of happiness," 
which the Declaration of Independence declares to be inherent. 
This is on the theory of Shylock's famous remark : — 

" You take mj^ life 
When you do take the means whereby I live." 

— Merchant of Venice, Act IV. 8c. 1. 



BILL OF EIGHTS. 31 

This provision introduced a feature new to governments at that 
time, although the English government had been forced to a 
slight change in the direction of this section. Other govern- 
ments searched private property at pleasure, and many do now. 
Under the laws that haA'e been passed to carry out this provis- 
ion, before a search can be made, a swoni complaint must be 
made to a judicial officer, stating minutely what places are to 
be searched, or what things or persons are to be seized, that 
the person making the complaint has the right to the things 
described, or that the person named has committed a crime 
named. Such search or seizure will be authorized b}^ a warrant 
from an officer, and must be made by an officer. An officer, or 
other person, who searches a place, or who seizes a person or 
things without such a warrant, is guilty of a crime and can be 
punished. 

11. (Amendment 5.) — (a) Grand Jury. In order that pros- 
ecutions for suspected crimes may not be entered upon lightly, 
and that the person suspected of crime may not be put to the 
expense and annoyance of a defense if innocent, a grand jury, 
consisting of not less than sixteen, and not more than twent}^- 
three men, as the judge may order, must first hear the evidence 
for the government. If this evidence is so strong as to con- 
vince the grand jury that the suspected person probably com- 
mitted the crime, it makes the charge, stated in minute detail, 
called an indictment. This indictment is usually written by the 
attorne}' for the government. Upon the back of this indictment 
the foreman of the grand jury writes "A true bill," and sigus 
his name beneath. Until this indictment is so found by a 
grand jury, no person can be tried in a United States court for a 
crime punishable by death, or by imprisonment in the peniten- 
tiar3^ The reason for a grand jury is the same, in other 
respects, as the reason for a trial jury. (See page 27.) This 
system does not always protect the citizen against hasty or 
unjust prosecutions, but it usually does so. The army and 



32 BILL OF KIGHTS. 

navy could not enforce their needed discipline by any such 
system. In those branches of the service, there is a necessity 
for prompt punishment of offenses. Hence, this system is not 
used in the trial of offenses against military and naval rules. 
When the militia of any state is in actual service, it is in the posi- 
tion of the army, and is excepted from the grand jury system. 

(b) Two Trials. In some European countries, even now, 
it is not uncommon for the government to hold a person after 
acquittal to try him a second time, or more. This is neither 
right nor just, because the government is so much stronger 
than any individual, and can conduct prosecutions at less 
expense. Thus, a government could ruin any individual at its 
pleasure, if it were allowed to continue to try him until it found 
1 jury that would convict. The necessity for this prohibition 
is not so strong in the United States as it was in England, or 
in any monarchy. But even in this countr3-, where party feel- 
ing often runs high, leaders opposed to the governing party 
might be accused of crimes and held for repeated trial, even if 
innocent, so as to remove their influence, if there were no con- 
stitutional prohibition. Sometimes a guilty person will be ac- 
quitted, but it is an adage of some force, that it is better for 
nine guilty persons to escape punishment than for one innocent 
person to suffer. 

(c) Testimony. In criminal trials, the government makes a 
charge against a person, and that person denies the charge ; as, 
in civil cases, the plaintiff makes a charge against the de- 
fendant, and the defendant denies it. It is considered just that 
those who make charges against others must furnish the proof. 
So the government ought to be compelled to furnish the proof 
of crime before a person can be convicted. The practice, not 
infrequent in earlier European history, by which the accused 
person was compelled to testify and to furnish the proof of his 
crime, often having the testimony extorted under torture, is 
abhorrent to our sense of justice and humanity. 



BILL OF EIGHTS. 33 

(d) Due Process op Law. This term is iuterpveted by 
the courts to mean those proceedings and those forms pre- 
scribed by statute or by the common law. This means that 
before any one can be punished for an offense by death or 
imprisonment, and before he can be arrested, even, for an 
offense, and before the government can take the property 
of an individual, either as forfeiture or for public use, the law 
must state all the circumstances under which either can be done. 
That is, the law must state what shall be the punishment for 
a crime before one can be punished for that crime. The law 
must also state the manner and method of all the proceedings 

jn the arrest and trial for the crime, as well as the manner of 
punishment. So, the government cannot take the property of 
any one for public use until the law has set out the uses for 
which it can be taken and the' method of taking it. 

(e) Emixent Domaix. It is recognized, almost universall}', 
that the rights of the many are above the rights of the individ- 
ual. Indeed, there could be no government except upon this 
theory. Therefore, when the public needs the property of an 
individual, it has a right to take it. While all governments 
have always acted upon this theory, they did not formerly 
recognize any obligation, resting upon the government, to pay 
for the property so taken. The founders of our system of gov- 
ernment saw the justice of paying for property taken. All the 
citizens have an interest in the government, and all derive some 
benefit from propertj' taken for public use. Common justice 
demands that those who receive benefits should pay for them. 
Besides, if compensation were not obligatory, the door would 
be open for the rankest oppression on the part ol the men who 
have the selection of the property needed, and leading oppo- 
nents of the party in charge of the government could be, and 
probably would be, often ruined. 

12. (Amendment 6.) — This section also was a departure 
from the practice of many European governments. Under that 



34 BILL OF EIGHTS. 

practice, a prisoner had none of tlie rights herein named. 
Some of them might be, and often were, granted to prisoners 
as favors, bnt never as riglits. Prisoners were often confined 
in prison for 3'ears without being tried, and sometimes they died 
there without trial. Tliis was especially true of those charged 
with state or witli political crimes. Some were taken for trial 
to distant places, away from their friends and their witnesses, 
frequently without any knowledge of the nature of the crime 
imputed to them. All this made their defense more difficult, 
and their conviction more easy. The prisoner was often kept 
ignorant of the persons who testified against him, as well as of 
the nature of the testimony, and instances were not rare in 
European history in which he was not allowed Avitnesses in his 
behalf. Until quite recent times, even in England, the prisoner 
was not allowed to have a lawyer to help him make his defense. 
In all respects, he had to make whatever defense he did make 
in the dark. A bare statement of the coui'se of European 
courts, in criminal prosecutions, is enough to show its injustice, 
and the wisdom of the amendment prohibiting such practice in 
the United States. 

13. (Amendment 7.) — In England, the right of trial by 
jur}^ dates from very early times, and means a jury of twelve 
men. The jury-system, then, was a sure protection against 
the oppression of the courts. It enables all suitors to have 
the people decide the facts of their case, while the court 
decides the law. This was so important to English subjects 
that the framers of the amendments to the constitution made 
this one of the constitutional rights of the American citizeu. 
The form and character of the government of the United 
States are so different from those of the European govern- 
ments, that the jury is not so important to us as to Europeans. 
Its abolition is seriousl}" discussed. It has beeu modified in 
many of the states. The common law (the rules of proceed- 
ings in the courts of England at the time of the formation of 



BILL OF EIGHTS. 35 

the constitution) provided methods for having suits re-exam- 
ined iu higher courts, and tliis amendment prohibits such re-ex- 
amination, except by those methods of tlie common law, and 
prohibits any change in those metliods. 

14. (Amendment 8.) — When a person is accused of a crime 
and he cannot be tried at once, he is usuallj' admitted to bail, 
if the crime is less tiian murder. To give bail is to give a 
bond with security that he will be at the court and submit to 
his trial. When this bond is given, the accused is allowed to 
go free until the time set for the trial. The amount of this 
bond must correspond with the seriousness of the crime charged. 
One hundred dollars might be a sufficient bond in a case of 
assault and battery, while five thousand dollars might not be 
too much in a charge of manslaughter. In cases of stealing, 
the bail is usually fixed with reference to the amount stolen. 
In theory, the bail should be so high that the accused cannot 
afford to run away from trial, and 3'et not so high that he can- 
not find friends enough to advance the security. If the bail is 
for a greater amount than is necessary to secure his presence at 
the trial, it is excessive. "Cruel and unusual punishments" 
are such as have not been inflicted under the common law. 

15. (Amendment 9.) — The old theory of government was 
that the people possessed no rights. Privileges might be 
granted to them by the sovereign and withdrawn again at [)leas- 
ure, and often were. The ruler alone had rights. The senti- 
ment of the civilized world was changing slowl}^ upon this 
point at the time of the Revolution, and the people of the 
colonies claimed personal inherent rights to life, liberty, and to 
the pursuit of happiness. It was not settled, when the con- 
stitution was formed, what the limits were to the rights that 
were inherent, and the people feared that a failure to name a 
right, in the constitution, might be construed to mean a denial 
of its existence. In order, therefore, that the people might 
not be deprived of any right which they had possessed, this 
amendment was adopted. 



36 BILL OF EIGHTS. 

16. (Amendment 10.) — The government of the United States 
is confessedly one of delegated powers, only. It has no power 
except sucli as is given to it by the constitution. This would 
seem to be plainly set forth in the constitution itself. But the 
people had just been emancipated from a goA^ernment that 
claimed to possess inherent and unlimited power, and they had 
suffered severely under that government. They were naturally 
distrustful of governments, and feared that the new government 
might arrogate to itself the powers that other governments 
claimed. Under this amendment, when no power is given over 
a subject by the constitution, and is not prohibited to the 
states, such power resides still with the people of the states. 
But this amendment should not be construed too strictly. It is 
held by courts and statesmen, that the grant of a power to an 
officer or to a political body carries with it all the power that is 
needed to make that grant effective. Thus it has often been 
found, in the history of the United States, that certain action, 
on the part of Congress or of the President, has seemed neces- 
sary in the due and proper administration of the government, 
and yet the constitution has given no authority for the perform- 
ance of such action. So, during the war of the Rebellion, 
Congress and the President took action in many cases which 
seemed to them of doubtful constitutionality, while yet such 
actions were essential to the success of the war. They felt 
that they were bound by their oath of office, and by their feel- 
ing of patriotism, to preserve the Union at all hazards. Courts 
have held, in the case of inferior officers whose powers and 
duties are strictly defined, that the authority to do an act car- 
ries with it authority to use such means as are necessary for the 
accomplishment of that end. In such spirit, this amendment 
should be construed. 

17. (Amendment 13.) — By the adoption of this amendment, 
in 1865, it may be considered that another section was added to 
the Bill of Eights. Although the Declaration of Independence 



BILL OF EIGHTS. ' 37 

used very general terms in its announcement that " all men are 
created equal," and are endowed with inherent rights to " life, 
liberty, and the pursuit of happiness," the government was ad- 
ministered, for nearly ninety years, on the theory that white men 
only possessed those rights. Those who claimed a right to hold 
slaves disclaimed the pretense that that right depended upon 
the color or nationality of the persons held. This theory was 
undermining the right of white men to their liberty. The 
failure of the war of 1861-65 gave the opportunity for a 
permanent statement in the constitution of the inherent and 
inalienable rights of all the residents in the United States to 
life and liberty. Thus the constitution was brought into har- 
mony with the Declaration of Independence. 

18. (Sec. 1, Amendment 14.) — On page 27, doubt is ex- 
pressed as to the precise meaning of the first clause of section 
two. Article IV- This amendment seems to supplement that 
provision. Under this section, all persons born or naturalized 
in the United States, and residing therein, are citizens of the 
state in which they -reside, and whatever privileges or immuni- 
ties any state bestows upon one citizen must also be bestowed 
upon all the others. This amendment was adopted in 1868 as 
a protection to the newly enfranchised , citizens of the states 
lately in secession, to whom equal protection of the laws, and 
equal privileges, were denied. The effect of this amendment 
is to create but one standard of citizenship in all the states and 
to compel each state to recognize the citizens of all other states 
as citizens of itself upon their removal within its borders. It 
may be a question how far the citizen of one state, removing 
to another state, can have his privilege to vote and to hold office 
'and to sit on juries, curtailed oi' restricted. 

19. (Amendment 15.) — This article recognizes, by implica- 
tion, the right of a state to restrict the right or privilege to vote 
for some reasons, but it prohibits sucli restriction for reasons of 
race, color, or previous condition of servitude. So far then as 



38 BILL OF EIGHTS. 

a constitutional provision can create a right, this amendment 
may be said to recognize the right of all citizens of the United 
States to vote, and it refuses to allow a denial of that right 
unless such denial is based upon reasons that apply to all races 
and colors. 



THE STATE. 



Soon after the formation of the Constitution it was ex- 
pressly stipulated by the tenth amendment that all powers 
not granted therein to the United States, nor prohibited 
b}^ it to the states, were reserved to the states themselves. 
Accordingly, each state has a government which concerns 
itself more completely with local affairs and interests than 
the national government does. Each has a sphere of 
rights, duties, and privileges, apart from the other. The 
state government is divided into three branches : execu- 
tive, legislative, and judicial. 

Offtcers. — The general officers of a state usually are a 
Governor, Lieutenant-Governor, Secretary of State, Treas- 
urer, Attorney-General, and Comptroller or Auditor. 

The Governor is commander-in-chief of the military 
forces of the state, and it is his duty to see that all the laws 
are executed. When the legislature assembles, he sends 
it a message, giving such information as he deems neces- 
sary, and recommending such measures as he thinks advis- 
able. He may call a special session of the legislature if he 
finds it necessary. In some states he may grant pardon to 
criminals, but in others he can only do this by and with 
the consent of certain official advisers designated by law. 
All bills passed by the legislature need the approval of the 
governor before they become laws. If he does not ap- 
prove of a' bill he may return it to the house in which it 
originated, stating his objections ; if the two houses still 
concur in passing it, notwithstanding his objections, it then 



40 THE STATE. 

becomes a law the same as if he had approved it. But the 
majority of each -house, to pass a law in this manner, must 
be greater than before ; in some states a majority of two- 
thirds is required, and in others a majority of all the mem- 
bers elected to each house is sufficient. This function of 
the governor in legislation is called the veto power^ and it 
is one of the most important with which he is vested. 

In most states the Lieutenant-Governor is President 
of the Senate and has the casting vote. Through the 
death, resignation, impeachment, or other disability of the 
governor, the duties of that office devolve upon him for the 
rest of the term. In Massachusetts the lieutenant-governor 
is an ex-officio member of the Governor's Counc-il, but has 
no duties in connection with the Senate, In a few of the 
states there is no such officer. Maine is an example ; the 
Constitution not providing for a lieutenant-governor, the 
President of the Senate, elected by that body, assumes all 
the duties of the office upon the death, resignation, or im- 
peachment of the Governor. 

The Secretary of State is the keeper of all the 
official records, executive and legislative, and of the elec- 
tion returns, and may furnish certified copies of the same 
to all persons authorized to receive them. 

The Treasurer has charge of all the money paid 
into the treasury, paying it out again upon warrants 
properly certified. 

The Attorney-General appears on behalf of the 
state in all litigation in which the state is an interested 
party, prosecutes criminalSj^ and prepares drafts of con- 
tracts, and other papers on behalf of the state. 

The Auditor, or Comptroller, as he is called in some 
states, audits and settles accounts due to and from the state, 



CIVIL AFFAIRS. 41 

estimates the amount of revenue needed, and superintends 
its collection. His signature to the treasurer's checks and 
receipts is necessary, and he keeps a record of them. 

The Leg-islature. — This is composed of two branches, 
a Senate, and a House of Representatives, or of Assembly, 
as it is called in some states. Each branch has a presid- 
ing officer, a President in the Senate, and a Speaker in the 
House, a Clerk, Sergeant-at-arms, and other officials neces- 
sary to preserve order, and for the convenience of mem- 
bers. The method of procedure is much the same as in 
the Congress of the United States, and each branch within 
the sphere of the state government has powers and duties 
similar to those granted to and exercised by each branch 
of Congress. 

The Judiciary. — Each state has a number of courts 
for the trial of offences against persons and property, and 
for the settlement of disputed questions between citizens. 
The method of appointment of judges of these courts is 
not uniform in all the states : in some they are appointed 
by the governor, generally with the approval of some other 
officials designated by law, and their term is for life or 
good behavior ; in others, they are elected by the people 
for life or good behavior ; and in still others, only for a 
term of years. 

These vary in their jurisdiction, from the justice's court, 
which may try the smallest cases, to the highest appellate 
court. If a person is dissatisfied with the decision of a 
lower court, he may generally have his case carried to 
a higher one ; and if the cause be of sufficient moment, 
he may carry it to the highest court for final decision. 

Prohate Courts. — That court which comes nearest to 
the whole people is the one that takes charge of the wills 



42 THE STATE. 

of deceased persons, and under whose direction their 
estates are administered. The property of those who die 
without making a will is administered upon by a person 
appointed by this court, called an administrator. Under 
a will this court sees that all its provisions are faithfully 
carried out by the executor. The estate is in the hands 
of the court till the debts are paid and the remaining 
property distributed according to the will, or among the 
next of kin as provided by law. 

In the different states this court does not always have 
the same name. There are Probate Courts, Surrogate 
Courts, Courts of Widows and Orphans, and in some cases 
this business is taken charge of by the County Court. 
Except in the case of a contested will, all the proceedings 
are very simple and informal. 

The State is subdivided into counties, and these into 
cities, towns, and villages, or boroughs. 

Each state has a constitution of its own which was made 
by a convention chosen by the people, and generally 
adopted by a popular vote. Its powers are exercised 
through three departments — Legislative, Executive, and 

Judicial. 

The state makes and executes laws for the general welfare 
of all the citizens. It lays and collects taxes for the sup- 
port of schools to educate its citizens, and promote general 
intelligence. It provides means for the restraint and pun- 
ishment of the vicious and criminal ; it directly supports, 
or aids in the support of, some classes of the poor, and 
makes provision for the unfortunate lunatics, imbeciles, 
and the sick and crippled. It is the pohcy of all govern- 
ments, however, that this support shall come from the 
place where the disability was incurred, or the person has 
secured a legal residence. 



CIVIL AFFAIRS. 43 

The County. — The usual county officers are a judge, 
generally of probate, sheriff, clerk, treasurer, registrar, 
district attorney, coroner, and a board of commissi(')ners, 
which in some states are called snpervisors, freeholders, 
etc. Many of the states also have county superintendents 
or commissioners of public schools. These officials have 
various duties to perform, as their titles indicate. 

In most states the county judge presides at county 
courts, attends to the probate of wills, and estates of 
deceased persons are settled under his direction, where 
there is no probate judge or surrogate ; the sheriff is to 
arrest persons charged with crime, have the care of crim- 
inals and of the county buildings, including the jail or 
penitentiary, maintain order in court, and be the general 
peace officer of the county. The county clerk is clerk of 
all the courts held in the county, and administers the oath 
to jurors and records the judgments of the courts. 

The treasurer receives the money collected for county 
taxes and pays it out for expenses, as directed by law. 
The district attorney is the prosecuting officer for the 
county ; it is his duty to look after offenders, draw bills 
of indictment when found by the grand jury, and try the 
cases befora the court. The coroner holds inquests upon 
the bodies of those suspected of death through mysterious 
or unlawful means. The county commissioners, etc., look 
after the county highways, bridges, buildings, etc. The 
county superintendent, or commissioner of schools, licenses 
teacliers, visits schools, and apportions public money for 
their support, as directed by law 

The City. — Most cities are governed by written char- 
ters received from the state. The usual officers are the 
mayor, aldermen, councilmen, municipal judges, marshal, 



44 THE STATE. 

or chief of police, superintendents of schools, streets, lamps, 
and public buildings. The aldermen, or city council, pass 
by-laws for the government of the city, such as are within 
the powers granted them by their charter, and provide 
means for their execution. The most common subjects 
for their legislation are the streets, sidewalks, pavements, 
lighting, water supply, protection against fires, and of 
public health. 

The mayor is the executive officer of the city, and it is 
his duty to see the laws enforced. He also may veto the 
ordinances passed by the city council. The city courts 
try offenses against the city ordinances, and cases of theft 
and violence arising under the general statutes. It is the 
duty of the marshal, or chief of police, to see to the execu- 
tion of the orders of the court. 

The Towu, Village, or Borough. — The town govern- 
ments of New England are the nearest to the ideal of a 
pure democracy. Here the people assemble annually in 
town-meetings at the call of the " Selectmen," to choose 
the town officers for the ensuing year. They first choose 
a Moderator from among their number, to preside during 
their meeting and to preserve order. They hear the re- 
ports of the doings of their servants for the past year, and 
elect them or others for the ensuing year. At this meeting 
they vote how much money the town shall raise for taxes 
for the year, and how and for what purposes it shall be 
expended: so much for schools, for-highways, for the sup- 
port of the poor, for a fire department, and for improve- 
ments. All are~ equal ; there is no delegated authority, 
and all have an equal voice in shaping the interests and 
destin}^ of the town. 

A village so,metimes has, and a borough always has, a 



CIVIL AFFAIRS. 45 

charter from the state enabling it to do many things that 
cannot be done under a town government ; its powers to 
employ police, buy fire apparatus, pave and grade streets 
and walks, protect public health, introduce water, light 
streets, maintain schools, and make improvements, are in 
many respects equal to those of the cities. 

Minor divisions of a town or toAvnship are usually school 
districts, with power to appoint trustees or directors, raise 
money for the erection and repair of buildings, and, in 
some cases, for the support of schools and the employment 
of teachers. 

Voters. — To have the jDrivilege of suffrage a person 
must be a citizen of the United States, and generally a 
resident of the state for one year, and of the town or 
county where the vote is offered for the last six months 
preceding. Some of the states are rather more liberal in 
their provisions ; and some have amended their laws so that 
women having certain qualifications may vote at school 
meetings, and vote for and serve as school officers. 

But in general, voters must be male persons, twenty-one 
years of age, and neither paupers, convicted criminals, 
lunatics, idiots, or non-residents. The voting is by ballot, 
and in places too large for the officers appointed by law 
to supervise the elections, to know each voter personally, 
various registry and other laws have been devised to pro- 
tect the purity of elections, and to secure " a free ballot 
and a fair count." 

An Alien may enjoy all the blessings of our free gov- 
ernment, but he can have no voice in framing its laws, or 
part in their execution ; he must pay taxes the same as the 
citizen, and he is benefited equally in their expenditure ; 
but the amount to be raised, and the purposes for which it 



46 THE STATE. 

shall be expended, are determined by citizens only. The 
alien may have the same civil and religious rights as the 
citizen, but not the same political rights, unless after a 
residence for a suitable term of years, he abjures allegiance 
to the pfovernment under which he was born and swears 
fealty to our government. 

L.aws. — The sources of the laws affecting the American 
citizen are two : the common law, which derives its force, 
as a rule of action, from established custom and long 
usage, and has been imraemorially received and recognized 
by judicial tribunals ; and law which has been enacted by 
local, state, and national legislatures. These derive their 
authority from constitutions and charters framed by the 
delegates of the whole people and afterward adopted by 
another set of delegates or by the majority vote of the 
people. Tlie common law, which is unwritten law, pre- 
vails wherever there is no statute law which virtually 
repeals it. The statute law is enacted by the representa- 
tives of the whole body politic, is approved and enforced 
by its executive officers, and in case of violation or differ- 
ence of interpretation, its judiciary declare its meaning 
and pronounce its penalties. 

The objeot of all law is twofold, — protection to person 
and to property ; all violations of human law are of one of 
these two classes of offenses. As the individual in organ- 
ized society gives up some of his natural rights, he acquires 
in return the right to protection by society in the enjoy- 
ment of the fruits of his labors, securing to him the great- 
est freedom consistent with the freedom and rights of 
others. This liberty is mainly freedom from molestation 
or interference by others, so that the individual may be 
able to attain to the highest intellectual, physical, moral, 



CIVIL AFFAIRS. 47 

and religious culture of which he is capable ; and he may 
have the utmost liberty of speech, thought, and action, so 
far as the exercise of these do not interfere with the enjoy- 
ment of the same rights by otliers. 

Education. — In a popular government like ours, where 
every citizen has a voice and vote in public affairs, it is of 
prime importance that this vote should be an educated 
one. The intelligence of the people is the safety of the 
state. High aims and noble purposes are handmaids of 
education, while ignorance tends to idleness and vice. 

Hence in a republic the people are willing to tax them- 
selves freely for the support of schools; to erect good 
buildings, furnished with necessary apj)aratus, and pre- 
sided over by competent teachers. And hence too, in 
many states, considerable funds, derived from the sale of 
public lands and from other sources, have been set apart, 
and the income forever dedicated to this purpose. 

Most, if not all of the states, also have established 
normal schools for the better preparation of teachers for 
their work, where any person of suitable age and character 
can obtain an education, tuition free, and other privileges, 
upon the promise to teach within the state a certain 
number of years after graduating. 

The states generally have a Superintendent of Public 
Instruction, or some officer that acts as such. In most of 
the states the counties too have such an official. The 
county superintendents report to the state superintendent, 
and he in turn to the legislature annually, what has 
been done in his department the preceding year, and 
makes such recommendations as he thinks necessary to 
further promote the interests of the schools. Where there 
are no superintendents for the counties, the local officers 



48 THE STATE. 

of each town, school district, or city, report the details of 
educational work for the year to the state superintendent. 

Several of the states have a compulsory education law, 
by which children between certain ages are obliged to 
attend some school a specified number of months in each 
year. The course of study in the different states is widely 
various ; in some the law commands the maintenance of 
high schools, where pupils may be fitted for college, or 
given a corresponding education in all the higher branches; 
while in others the high school is a matter of local choice 
and provision; and in still others public schools impart 
only the most elementary instruction. 

Licenses to teachers are granted by state, county, and 
local authorities ; the requirements in different localities 
are widely different, and the proficiency and acquirements 
of teachers vary accordingly. But in all the states the 
standard is being raised, in response to the demands of the 
people for better educational facilities. The subjects of 
healthful location of buildings, proper ventilation, and 
heating and lighting, and general sanitation, are receiving 
in most localities the attention that their importance 
requires. 

Marriage. — In this country, where the population no- 
where crowds upon the means of subsistence, every en- 
couragement is afforded by social and civil society to all 
persons of suitable age and habits to enter into the mar- 
riage relation. In some of the crowded countries of the 
old world the opposite state of affairs exists, and obstacles 
are thrown in the way of marriages. 

The state regards marriage as a civil contract to which 
each party shall agree, they having arrived at a lawful age 
at which they can bind themselves by a contract. Relig- 



CIVIL AFFAIRS. 49 

ious bodies usually regard it as much more than a contract 
to be acknowledged before civil authorities ; to them it is 
a solemn rite, to bo administered bj' consecrated hands. 
Accordingly, in many of the older countries there is a 
marriage before both the civil and religious authorities. 
Generally, in this country, any ordained clergyman, justice 
of the peace, and higher judicial officers, mayors of cities, 
and aldermen in some states, may perform the marriage 
ceremony. No particular form of ceremony is prescribed 
by the state, or necessary to the validity of the act. 

In some states a license must first be obtained from the 
city or town clerk, or other proper official ; in others no 
such restriction is laid, and any autliorized person may 
perform the ceremony before the necessary witness or 
witnesses, after having first ascertained that the appli- 
cants are of lawful age, and that no just cause or impedi- 
ment to the marriage exists. All marriages have to be 
reported to the proper local officer of city, town, or county, 
to be recorded. 

Persons of feeble or unsound minds are incapacitated 
from forming a contract, and so cannot lawfully enter into 
the marriage relation. There must be neither force nor 
fraud practised ; free consent is necessary in both parties, 
and without it the ceremony is null and void. To con- 
tract a marriage there must be no near blood relationship 
between the parties; cousins may intermarry if they will, 
but nearer relatives are prohibited from it. The husband 
is bound to support the wife, and must pay all the bills 
that she contracts for necessaries, or for such articles as 
are suitable to their station in life ; and even if they are 
separated, he is so bound, unless he allows her a suitable 
sum for her support. Under the common law the prop- 



50 THE STATE. 

erty of the wife was all subject to the control of the 
husband. But now, through laws passed by most of the 
states, she is enabled to hold, lease or sell, or make any 
disposition of it she pleases, the same as if unmarried. 
The wife may even engage in trade and transact business 
upon her separate account, and may enter into partner- 
ship with other persons, becoming liable for debts as far 
as her separate property is concerned. 

Through the relation of mari'iage comes the family, and 
the outgrowth of the family is social and civil organiza- 
tion — the state. Auj^thing that tends to weaken or 
undermine the sacredness of the obligations of this rela- 
tion, threatens the foundations of society and the perma- 
nence of the powers of the state that conserve and uphold 
the things that make for peace, purity, and prosperity. 
The institution of marriage is of divine origin, and 
the reason for it is found in the constitution of human 
nature. 

Parents and Children. — Under the common law par- 
ents were not bound to support their children. But this 
has generally been superseded by special enactments re- 
quiring the support and education of the offspring of 
marriage, according to the parents' condition in life. 
Many of the states also have enacted laws forbidding the 
employment of children in factories, or hiring them out to 
manual labor under a certain age, or unless they have 
attended some school a required number of weeks or 
months in ilie j^ear. It is the duty of the parent not only 
to provide their children with suitable food and clothing 
and education, but also to see that they have proper moral 
and religious training. Altliough this is not a legal duty, 
yet it is one of the highest moral duties that the parent 
owes to the state. 



CIVIL AFFAIRS. 51 

The rights and duties of parent and child are reciprocal: 
it is the right and duty of the parent to exercise authority 
over the child and to properly and kindly restrain and 
correct him ; filial obedience and affection are the duties 
of the child. As it is the duty of the parent to care for 
and protect the child in helpless infancy and inexperienced 
youth, so in old age the parent has the right to receive 
from the child Avhatever aid, guidance, and affectionate 
support he may need. 

Taxes. — As the government, Avhether town, city, state, 
or national, is a non-producer, it follows that it must have 
some means of raising money to pay its officers who attend 
to the different departments of its business, and enforce its 
laws. This it does by means of taxes. 

The state lays taxes for its support, and apportions them 
equitably among the cities and towns of which it is com- 
posed ; the county does the same, the city or towns usually 
providing the machinery by which the taxes are collected. 

Taxes are of two kinds, real and personal ; and a few 
states have still a third kind of tax, called a poll tax, 
which is imposed upon every voter, and is a requisite 
qualification for the exercise of the right of suffrage. 

Real taxes are laid upon houses, lands, mills, factories, 
etc., while personal taxes are laid upon stocks, plate, 
money, stock-in-trade, furniture, horses, cattle, etc. 

All property is subject to taxation except the tools and 
utensils of the mechanic or laborer, public buildings, and 
such buildings as are devoted to religious and charitable 
purposes, and the necessary lands for their use. 

The valuation of property for the purpose of taxation is 
ascertained by a board called assessors. The state and 
county taxes are apportioned to the towns and cities ac- 



52 THE STATE. ' 

cording to the values thus found. If owners of property 
refuse the payment of taxes, it may be seized and sold, 
but generally with the right of redemption. 

Another kind of tax is often laid in cities and villages, 
called an assessment. This occurs where certain property 
only, or the residents of some streets, by the introduction 
of improved sewers, laying of new pavements, or opening 
of new streets, and sometimes by the laying out of parks, 
are benefited. It would be obviously unfair to tax the 
whole community for what specially benefits individuals. 

For what purj)0se, then, are these taxes collected, and by 
what right does the government annually take a small por- 
tion of each person's property? The right may be said to 
grow out of the necessity for the maintenance of an orderly 
condition of society. Schools must be supported, highways 
and bridges must be built and repaired; legislative bodies 
must meet to enact laws, and executive officers must see 
to their execution. The courts must be open for the re- 
lief of wrongs and the punishment of the vicious ; the mi- 
litia must be enrolled, armed, and trained ; reformatories, 
jails, and prisons must be built and maintained for the 
restraint of criminals ; and alms-houses, asylums, and hos- 
pitals opened for the unfortunate, the incapable, and the 
poor. 

Juries. — These are of two kinds, grand and petit ; the 
latter is a trial jury, and the former is sometimes called 
the "grand inquest of the county." 

The grand jury is charged with the investigation of 
such crimes and misdemeanors as may be brought to its 
notice by the district attorney ; and where probable cause 
exists to believe a person guilty of a crime, "a true bill" 
may be found by a majority of all its members. Likewise, 



CIVIL AFFAIRS. 53 

the grand jury is often charged by the presiding judge to 
investigate public abuses and disorder, and make present- 
ment of their findings. Also they may of their own 
motion visit jails, hospitals, asylums, or other public build- 
ings in their jurisdiction, to ascertain from personal in- 
spection if the laws and rules for their government are 
observed, and the welfare and order of the inmates prop- 
erly cared for. 

The petit or trial jury must be composed of twelve 
citizens twentj^-one years of age, and they must be of an 
unbiased judgment in regard to any case that is brought 
before them. They are sworn to try each case impartially, 
and render a verdict in accordance with the facts as they 
shall ascertain them, and of which they are the sole 
judges. The law applicable to the case is laid down to 
them in a charge by the judge. The jury must be all 
agreed upon their verdict ; or, if they cannot agree, they 
may be discharged and another jury summoned to try the 
case. 

Most citizens are liable to jury duty, but some are 
exempt; as public officials, ministers,, lawyers, doctors, 
teachers, locomotive engineers, and many others whose 
enforced absence from their usual duties might cause no 
little public inconvenience. 

The right of trial by " a jury of one's peers " is reck- 
oned as a most precious heritage of the Anglo-Saxon race. 
It dates from Magna Charta (1215), and although for a 
long period subsequently, jurymen were intimidated often, 
and sometimes punished for rendering a verdict contrary 
to the wishes of the sovereign, yet the people have held to 
the right with an indomitable will, until it was freed of 
these abuses and became wdiat it is to-day. 



54 THE STATE, 

Militia. — By laws of most if not all of the states, all 
able-bodied citizens between the ages of eighteen and 
forty-five are enrolled, and are liable to be summoned for 
duty as state troops. The executive, judicial, and legisla- 
tive officers of the state government, and some others, as 
clergymen, physicians, and firemen, are exempted from 
this enrollment. The governor of the state is the com- 
mander-in-chief of the military forces of the state, but 
when called into active service, they cannot be sent out of 
the state without their own consent. 

While in fact the militia consists of this enrolled body 
of citizens, in practise, and as commonly known, the state 
troops are composed of a volunteer body of citizens who 
organize themselves inider the laws of the state, choosing 
their own company officers by a popnlar vote, who in turn 
choose regimental, brigade, and division officers, who are 
appointed and commissioned by the governor. 

In many states they are furnished by the state with 
arms, equipments, and armories, and generally every- 
where they are aided more or less by the state in the 
expenses of their organization. 

The company officers are a captain and first and second 
lieutenants; the officers of a regiment are a colonel, lieu- 
tenant-colonel, major, adjutant, and chaplain ; there are 
brigade and division commanders, with the rank of briga- 
dier and major-general respectively. The governor of a 
state can sutnmon the whole or any part of these oi-gan- 
ized bodies to duty in a time of insurrection or rebellion, 
or when the resistance to the ordinary peace officers of a 
county is too formidable for them to overcome. 

In the late war, 1861-65, the most of the troops engaged 
consisted of volunteers raised in the several states, and 



CIVIL AFFAIRS. 66 

afterward mustered into the service of the country, the 
militia or some part of it most frequent!}^ furnishing the 
nucleus of the organization. As a training school and a 
rallying point in time of need, as well as for its conserva- 
tive force, it is of great value. In several states, as in 
New York and Pennsylvania, this organization is called 
the National Guard. vSometimes an order to a portion of 
this force to assemble under arms has the effect of repress- 
ing disturbance, quelling turbulent spirits, and averting 
riot and bloodshed. 

Prisons, Asylums, etc. — The states generally provide 
prisons or penitentiaries for criminals, and asylums for 
their unfortunate citizens, who, being bereft of their natu- 
ral protectors, and being incapable of self-support through 
lunacy, idiocy, or bodily weakness, become a charge upon 
the state. This is considered a proper object for which a 
tax may be laid upon the whole people, except so far as, 
under the direction of their overseers and guardians in 
these public institutions, they may do something to con- 
tribute to their own support. Whatever is done to amelio- 
rate the condition of the blind, the crippled, the mentally 
unsound, the orphans, and other unfortunates, is one of 
the highest duties a state owes to its citizens. Towns, 
cities, and counties also often have such institutions. The 
inmates of state prisons, being able-bodied persons gener- 
ally, these may be made self-supporting usually, and no 
charge upon the public for their maintenance. Cities and 
counties have jails and lock-ups for a lower grade of crim- 
inals, and for the detention of those charged with crime 
who are waiting trial. 

Criminals. — Warrants for the arrest of a person charged 
with crime may be obtained from a magistrate having 



66 THE STATE. 

jurisdiction, unless the act be witnessed by an officer of 
the law, in which case no warrant is necessary. For all 
the lower grades of offenses the penalty may be awarded 
by the magistrate without the formality of a trial by jury. 
The procedure in case of more serious offenses is more 
deliberate and formal. Usually there is an examination 
before the nearest sitting magistrate, although that may 
be waived by the accused, and he be committed without 
it, to await the action of the grand jury. If an examina- 
tion is had, and this is probable cause to believe the 
accused guilty, he is committed, and the evidence is laid 
before the grand jury at its next session; all the evidence 
which they look into is that against the accused ; if a 
majority of this body think there is reason to believe him 
guilt}^, a "true bill" is found, and he must be tried in a 
court having jurisdiction of such cases. 

The presumption of innocence is the theory of the law, 
until the guilt is established to the satisfaction of a jury 
of twelve men. But still the law holds the accused in 
custody Avhile he is waiting trial, unless the offense be 
bailable. Bail will generally be taken in case of most 
crimes against the person, short of murder, or attempts to 
commit murder; and in crimes against property, unless an 
immense sum is involved. The prisoner is in all cases enti- 
tled to counsel, and if through poverty he has not the 
means to hire a lawyer to defend his case, one will be as- 
signed him by the court. He is entitled to know explicitly 
with what he is charged, to have time to prepare for trial, 
and to have the authority of the court for summoning and 
compelling the attendance of his witnesses. 

The law also secures for him a trial before an impartial 
and unbiased jury. If they acquit him, he is discharged. 



CIVIL AFFAIRS. ' 57 

but if tliey convict liim^he is either sentenced at once by 
the court, or remanded to await sentence at a future day. 
In any grave crimes he may, after conviction, have his case 
argued upon points of law before a full bench, and if their 
decision is against him, he may even carry his case to the 
court of highest jurisdiction in the state. The law allows 
the court large discretion in awarding penalties ; they may 
be by both fine and imprisonment, or either one, as the 
court decides. And the law, too, names a larger and a 
smaller sum for the fine, and a longer and a shorter term 
for the imprisonment, which shall be fixed by the court as 
it considers the offence to be aggravated, or to have some 
mitigating circumstances. 

A person restrained of his liberty unlawfully, as he 
thinks, may sue out a writ of habeas corjjus and be brought 
before a court having jurisdiction and demand that good 
and sufficient cause should then be shown why he should 
not be set at liberty ; if it be shown that he is lawfully 
held, he will be returned to custody ; otherwise, he will be 
discharged. While it is of great importance that the ex- 
ecutive officers should be able to arrest and hold upon 
probable evidence all offenders, yet this writ of habeas cor- 
pus is equally necessary for the security of the citizen. 
This writ dates from Magna Charta and is reckoned as a 
birthright of all freemen. 

Punishment for crime is a means to an end ; the end 
being the good order and welfare of the body JDolitic ; it 
is not so much for its effect upon the criminal, as for its 
deterrent effect upon other possible criminals. The pen- 
alty does not expiate the crime, but its infliction tends to 
the protection of the community against its further com- 
mission. A great body of people probably live out their 



58 THE STATE. 

lives without having seen a court of law ; they are not 
parties to a suit, and are summoned neither as witnesses 
nor jurymen. Yet are not these people benefited by the 
courts ? this class of people perhaps derives greater advan- 
tages from them than any other. The peace and security 
which they feel and enjoy, are maintained by forces which 
they do not see, but which are none the less efficient in 
securing order and dispensing justice. 

Wills. — Any person of sound mind may make a will 
directing the way in which his property shall be disposed 
of after his death. This instrument must be signed by 
him in the presence of two witnesses, and they must sign 
it in his presence and in the presence of each other. It 
must be clear and explicit in its provisions, and void 
of ambiguity. The person making a will is called a testa- 
tor ; and he names some person iu the instrument, called 
an executor, to carry out its provisions. After the death 
of the testator, his will is presented to the probate judge, 
who directs that notice be giveu, by public advertisement, 
of the probate of the will. If there is no opposition, the 
will is "proven." The executor, who must usually give 
bonds for the faithful performance of his trust, propor- 
tioned to the value of the estate, gives notice to all parties 
having claims against it to present them to him, and to all 
owing it, that payment must be made to him. 

Usually two years is allowed for the proving and settle- 
ment of claims. The executor must report all his proceed- 
ings to the judge once a year, or oftener, as he may direct. 
A testator desiring to favor some of his heirs more than 
others, or wishing to disinherit any, must be certain to 
mention these persons by name, else it might be held that 
they were forgotten or overlooked, and its provisions con- 



BUSINESS AFFAIRS. 59 

tested upon that ground. But courts usually uphold the 
wishes of the deceased where they can be clearly ascer- 
tained. 

If a person dies without making a will, he is legally 
described as intestate ; and a person called an administra- 
tor is appointed by the court to settle the estate, dividing 
the property, after the payment of the debts, among the 
next of kin, according to law. 

Informal wills made upon a battle-field, or by one in 
momentary expectation of death by drowning at sea, or 
otherwise, have been allowed and held valid by the courts. 

Guardians for minor children are appointed by the 
court where none are named by the testator. Gifts and 
bequests are usually upheld, even though they may seem 
to work hardship to the lawful heirs. 

Contracts. — A contract is an agreement voluntarily 
made between two or more persons of sound mind, to do, 
or not to do, a certain thing. It may be made orally, or 
committed to writing ; but the essential part is, that it is 
founded upon the mutual understanding and agreement 
of the parties. 

Some persons" are naturally incapacitated to make a 
contract, such as idiots, lunatics, drunkards, and any other 
persons who by reason of age or infirmity are incapable of 
rightly managing their affairs. An idiot is mentally defi- 
cient, and incapable of acting for himself. A lunatic 
might have a lucid interval when, if not undei* guardian- 
ship, he could make a contract. But if disputed, the bur- 
den of proof would be upon the party sustaining its 
validity. So a drunkard may have sober intervals when 
he may make a contract, the necessary part being the 
capacity to give a voluntary and deliberate consent. 



60 THE STATE. 

All persons under twenty-one years of age, and married 
women in respect to some contracts, are legally incapaci- 
tated to make a valid contract. If induced to make one, 
it may be repudiated unless confirmed by the parent or 
guardian, or confirmed by the person after coming of age, 
or after the disability is removed. There is an apparent 
exception to this in respect to debts that might be incurred 
for food and clothing, and necessary education. 

In general, the legality of a contract will be presumed, 
and to avoid it the contrary must be shown. But a con- 
tract such as would violate the general principles of morality 
and justice, or would be a violation of law, or repugnant 
to public policy, would be illegal. 

A contract must be for a good and valuable considera- 
tion. A good consideration is one that would warrant a 
gift of property, such as natural affection and blood rela- 
tionship. A valuable consideration is one that the parties 
themselves esteem sufficient to induce them to undertake to 
perform the service, or assume the relations agreed upon. 

It is a general rule in the construction of contracts, that 
they will be so construed as best to give effect to the in- 
tention of the parties to them. Also that the law of the 
place where made, is binding in the construction. An 
agreement to do any certain thing must be reduced to 
writing and signed by the parties, if the time of the per- 
formance is more than a year from the time of the agree- 
ment. The oiUy exception to this is a mutual agreement 
to marry. 

Fraud will invalidate any contract; it is required that 
there shall be good faith in everj^ person negotiating one, 
and that he will not be a party to, or permit, any deception 
or misrepresentation as an inducement to enter into one, 



BUSINESS AFFAIRS. 61 

No essential fact can lawfully be concealed, or defect cov- 
ered up, without rendering it as voidable as if wilful mis- 
representation had been made. So a contract made under 
a threat or coercion, is voidable ; it must be the free and 
voluntary act of the person, or it cannot be maintained. 

A Contract for services to be performed may be either 
oral or written, except that if the term be for more than 
one year it must be in writing, in order to be binding. In 
all cases where there are any special agreements or con- 
ditions, it is desirable that they should be written out 
clearly, in order to prevent any future misunderstanding. 
When no time of payment for labor is specified in the ^ 
agreement, it is held to be due only when the service is 
completely performed. And if one leaves without good 
cause before the labor is completed, he cannot recover for 
what he has done already. Even if he leaves for a day 
without cause, the employer is not bound to take him 
back, nor to pay him for services previously rendered. 
But if he were sick, or he should die, or if compelled to 
leave through the misconduct of the employer, then he is 
entitled to full pay for all the services rendered. If a 
minor makes a contract for services and receives pay for 
them, if they were reasonably worth more, he may recover 
the difference after coming of age. 

In a contract to build a house, if tlie specifications are 
varied from at the request of the employer, the builder 
may recover a reasonable amount for cost of extra mate- 
rials or labor. But if the builder does not follow specifi- 
cations through design or negligence of his own, he cannot 
collect what the house, as built, may be reasonably worth. 
Yet the employer may make himself liable by occasionally 
inspecting the work and materials and expressing ap- 



62 THE STATE. 

proval. If a contractor puts in better materials than he 
agreed, he cannot collect the difference in cost. A con- 
tract for services implies ordinary skill, and good faith in 
their performance. Generally no one can enforce a claim 
for services rendered to another party v^^ithout his request. 
If a contract becomes impossible of performance, it is a 
rule that payment must be made in a reasonable sum and 
equitably for what has been done. 

Partnership. — When two or more persons associate 
themselves together to prosecute some lawful business, and 
to share its profits and losses, they are called partners. 
This partnership may be limited to a single transaction, or 
it may involve an extended business lasting through a 
term of years. The contract by w^hich the parties bind 
themselves may be either oral or written, but it is wise to 
have the whole agreement in writing, defining the nature 
of the business, the services each partner is to perform, 
the capital and share of the profit or loss, when it shall 
terminate, if limited in time, and what shall be done in 
the case of the death of either partner. 

An essential feature of a partnership, is that profits and 
losses are shared in common. The same legal qualifica- 
tions are required in the parties to a partnership as in 
those to any other kind of contract. A married woman 
may enter into partnership and become liable to tlie 
extent of her separate property. In a general partnership, 
as related to the public, all are jointly and individually 
liable for its debts; but as among themselves, they are 
liable according to the terms of their contract. A dor- 
mant partner, who has a secret interest in the business, if 
discovered, is liable for its debts, as is also a nominal part- 
ner, vfho has no interest, but who lends his name for the 



BUSINESS AFFAIRS. 63 

purpose of giving it credit. A partner is not entitled to 
pay for his services beyond his share of the profits, unless 
the agreement provides for it. Neither can a partner dis- 
pose of his interest to a third person and constitute him a 
partner in the business. 

When the time of continuance of a partnership is not 
named in the contract, it is said to be at will. And where 
it is at will, it may be dissolved at any time by either part- 
ner, but he will be liable to all the others for damages. 
Generally a partnership at will is dissolved by the viola- 
tion of the agreement by a partner, or his bankruptcy, sale 
of interest, felony, or death. All special agreements 
among partners are good as among themselves, but not as 
against third parties, unless specially brought to their 
notice. 

Each partner is an agent for all the others to transact 
any and all of its business, but he has no right to use the 
firm name in his individual business, nor to use funds of 
the firm for his own benefit. Each partner is bound to 
exercise the utmost good faith toward the others, giving 
all information respecting the common interest, and zeal- 
ously co-operating to promote all the interests of the part- 
nership. If a partnership is dissolved by a partner's death, 
the legal title vests in the survivors, and they must 
account to the representatives of the deceased for his 
share ; as long as they do this with fidelity, his heirs can- 
not interfere in the adjustment of the partnership accounts 
and arrangement of the business. If there is not property 
enough to pay its debts, his private property may be taken 
for that purpose ; but sufficient must first be applied to 
extinguish his individual indebtedness. 

A limited partnersJdi) differs from a general partnership 



64 THE STATE. 

in that public notice must be given, proven, and recorded 
in the same manner as a conveyance of real estate, and 
also published in the newspapers of the locality of the 
business. The certificate, signed by eaclr one, must set 
forth the name of the firm, the nature of the business it is 
to transact, who are general and who are special partners, 
with their residences, the amonnt of capital each one con- 
tributes, and the period for which it is formed. These 
partners are not liable beyond the amounts they agree to 
contribute. A special partner may die or dispose of his 
interest without working the dissolution of the firm. Such 
partnership cannot be dissolved before the time specified 
in the certificate without giving equally public notice, 
and taking legal steps similar to those necessary at its 
formation. 

A joint stock company is virtually a limited partner- 
ship, as described in the last paragraph, having officers 
such as president, secretary, and treasurer, for its own 
convenience in the transaction of business. Suits at law 
may be instituted by and against them in the name of one 
of their officers. 

Mortg-ag-es. — A mortgage is a conveyance of property 
upon condition, as security for the payment of a debt. 
Generally the mortgagor is considered the real owner of 
the property, subject only to the lien upon it for the pay- 
ment of the debt, or performance of other condition. If 
the mortgagor defaults, the mortgagee may compel him to 
perform the condition named in the deed, or he may obtain 
judgment, and have the premises sold upon execution to 
satisfy the condition. A mortgage must be as formal as a 
deed making an absolute conveyance of property. It must 
be subscribed, witnessed, and recorded in the same way, in 



BUSINESS AFFAIRS. 65 

order to insure its validity. An unrecorded mortgage is 
valueless as against an innocent purcliaser of the same 
property. Also the wife of the mortgagor must join in 
the conveyance, or she will retain her right of dower in 
the premises after his death. 

In the mortgage of personal property it is usual also for 
the mortgagor to retain its possession until he makes de- 
fault of payment, or other condition which entitles the 
mortgagee to enforce his rights. Authorities state that 
the mortgagee has a right to the custody of the property 
mortgaged, but in practise the mortgagor usually retains 
it. If the property so mortgaged be levied on for other 
debts of the mortgagor, it can be sold only subject to the 
rights of the mortgagee. As in the case of real estate, the 
mortgage must be recorded, or it will not hold the sale of 
the property as against the title of an innocent purchaser. 
If a mortgagor fails to meet the conditions of the mortgage, 
and at the same time refuses to yield the possession to the 
mortgagee, to which his deed entitles him, then the mort- 
gagee may recover the property the same as he would any 
other, the rightful possession of which was withheld from 
him. 

Liens. — A lien is a right that one may have to hold 
the property of another as security for the payment of a 
debt, or the discharge of some obligation. One who fur- 
nishes materials for a building, or for the manufacture of 
an article, has a lien upon it for the payment of their value, 
and the mechanic employed in erecting a building, or mak- 
ing some article, has a lien upon it for the payment of the 
value of his services. The keeper of a hotel or a boarding- 
house has a lien upon the baggage of a guest for his 
charges for entertainment. A carrier may retain posses- 



QQ THE STATE, 

sion of goods to secure payment of his charges, and where 
one furnishes material to a mechanic for the manufacture 
of an article, the mechanic has a lien upon it for the pay- 
ment of his labor ; and so too where one has left property 
to be repaired. An agent or tradesman who has advanced 
money for freight or labor upon goods of another in his 
hands, has a lien upon them as security for payment of 
these advances. 

Leases for a period not exceeding one year will be held 
valid, even if not in writing, although it is prudent to 
have the conditions of the lease reduced to writing and 
properly witnessed. A lease may contain any provisions 
in regard to amount of rent and time of payment, and 
conditions concerning use of the premises, and about 
repairs and alterations, to which the parties agree. If the 
landlord agrees to make repairs and does not do it, the 
tenant may, after due notice, make them himself and 
collect the cost from him. If the lease be that of a build- 
ing, and it be burned up, or become so injured as to be 
untenantable, the rent will cease, unless the contract pro- 
vides differentl3^ The tenant is entitled to a reasonable 
use of the premises without any interference from the 
landlord. If the lessor should do anything to preclude 
their beneficial use by the tenant, he may vacate the 
premises and refuse further payment of rent. On the 
other hand, should the tenant create a nuisance upon the 
premises, or injure them beyond the ordinary wear, or 
refuse to pay the rent, the lessor may eject him and 
recover possession. 

Generally a lease will contain some provision as to 
whether the tenant may sublet a part of the premises, or 
dispose of his whole lease at his pleasure during the terra 



BUSINESS AFFAIRS. b< 

of the tenancy. "Also, if it be in the city, it will provide 
who shall pay the water rates. The rights of a tenant are 
not affected by a sale of the property during his term of 
occupancy, the purchaser being bound by the contract 
of the seller. If the lease is of land, it will provide Avho 
shall have any crops that may be standing at its expira- 
tion ; in absence of such provision they will belong to the 
lessor, unless the time should be uncertain, when they 
would belong to the lessee. 

It is the duty of the tenant to vacate the premises at 
once on the expiration of his lease, and no notice to quit 
is necessary ; if he does not go, the landlord may resort to 
legal process to eject him. Where he is a tenant at will, 
a notice to quit is necessary ; usually a month's notice is 
sufficient, but in some cases as long a time may be required 
as the intervals agreed upon for the payment of rent. 

Sales. — Sale of real estate must be by deed under seal, 
and there should be subscribing witnesses. This deed or 
conveyance must describe accurately the premises sold or 
conveyed, and name the consideration for the transfer. 

Deeds generally are of two kinds. Quitclaim and War- 
rant}^ ; the former is often given where a person has only 
a partial interest in an estate or piece of property, and this 
deed conveys to the grantee whatever right, title, and in- 
terest is possessed by the grantor. A deed with warranty 
covenants with the buyer that the seller has a good title 
to the property, and an indisputable right to sell, convey, 
and guarantee peaceable possession of the same to the buyer 
and his heirs forever. This deed must be properly re- 
corded in the office of the county clerk, or whatever officer 
attends to the registry of such instruments. 

Sales of personal property are generally by oral contract 



68 THE STATE. 

only, and the title passes from the seller to the buyer upon 
agreement to terms of sale, and if the property is left in 
the custody of the seller, it is at the risk of the buyer. 
Yet if anything remains to be done by the seller to com- 
plete the transaction, it is still at his risk for loss or dam- 
age. The delivery is an act in which both parties concur 
and by which the property comes into the actual power of 
the buyer. Unless the terms of sale provide for future 
payment, the seller may retain possession until the price 
is received. 

This involves the right of stoppage of goods while yet 
on the way from the seller to the buyer, if not wholly paid 
for, and the seller learns that the buyer is insolvent before 
they actually come into his possession. If no place of 
delivery of goods is named, it is generally understood that 
they are delivered at the place where they then are. If 
one kind of goods is ordered and another is sent, they are 
at the risk of the seller, and the party ordering is not 
bound unless he accepts them. 

Most of the states have enacted a law designed to pre- 
vent fraudulent sales, whereby a creditor of the seller 
might be defrauded. This law provides that a contract 
for a sale shall be void where the property in question is 
fifty dollars or more, unless a memorandum of the contract 
be made in writing and signed by the parties to it ; or 
unless the buyer receives a part of the goods ; or unless 
he pays down at the time a part of the purchase money. 

The law presumes that the property is owned by the 
party in possession, and that a hona fide sale involves a 
transfer ; this presumption may be overcome by sufficient 
evidence that the statute has been complied with. 

In connection with a sale of personal property, a war- 



BUSINESS AFFAIRS. 69 

ranty as to quality, qiuintity, and condition, is sometimes 
made in writing. But where no express warranty is given, 
one is implied. It is implied that the seller has a good 
title which he transfers to the buyer : if it is an article of 
food, that it is sound and wholesome ; if it is something 
to be manufactured, that it shall be of good quality ; and 
if it be an article of common purchase by the buyer, there 
is a warranty implied that nothing of an inferior quality 
will be delivered. 

Receipts. — A receipt is a writing given in acknowl- 
edgment of the delivery of mone}^ or goods, and usually 
stating for what purpose. " A receipt in full " does not 
debar the giver of it showing subsequently that it was not 
in full, and collecting the balance. 

A release differs from a receipt in that it is in the nature 
of a contract, and must be for a consideration which should 
be expressed in it. Releases of claims against real estate 
are often practically in the nature of conveyances. One 
partner may give a valid release of a debt due a firm, and 
where there are several executors or administrators, a re- 
lease of a claim by one binds all. 

Notes. — A promissory note is a writing signed by the 
maker, by which he agrees to pay another person, called 
the payee, a certain sum of money. The words " for value 
received " are usually inserted, and although they may not 
be necessary, yet in all cases they are advisable. In most 
of the states such notes are negotiable. 

A note need not be in any particular form ; if it states 
in intelligible language the promise to pay a certain sum 
of money to some person, or to bearer, it will be sufficient. 

Notes may be indorsed in blank or to some person. The 
holder of a note that has been dishonored may hold all 



70 THE STATE. 

the parties to it liable, or he may hold some and not 
others ; if he gives notice to all the parties, each one will 
be bound. If the residence of an indorser or the maker 
are unknown, diligent inquiry should be made, and notice 
sent as near as can be ascertained to his last known or 
probable place of residence, and that will be sufficient to 
hold either party. But if subsequently his real place of 
residence or business become known, another notice must 
be sent there in order to hold him. 

If a note is lost, public notice of the fact should be 
given, so that innocent parties may not negotiate it, and 
the maker should also be informed by the holder ; but if 
he cannot produce it at maturity, and the maker refuses 
payment, his only remedy is a resort to a court of equity. 

Interest. — This is money paid for the use of money, or 
the forbearance to collect a debt when due. The rates of 
lawful interest in the several states vary considerably. 
Six per centum is the most common sum, and that is also 
the lawful rate for the nation. The highest legal rate 
known in any state is twelve per centum. In some states 
by special agreement any rate is lawful ; while in others 
the exaction of more than the lawful rate, which is called 
usury, may be visited by severe penalties. 

Agency. — An agent is a person authorized to act for 
another, called his principal, in dealings with third parties : 
he may be employed to perform a single act, in which case 
he would be a special agent ; but when he is employed by 
his principal generally in the conduct of his business, he 
becomes a general agent. The authority of the agent to 
act is more usually implied by the conduct of the princi- 
pal than expressed by an instrument in writing ; a teller 
in a bank, a clerk in a store, a superintendent at a factory, 



BUSINESS AFFAIES. 71 

and others, are assumed from their positions to act with the 
full knowledge and consent of their principals. 

Generally a principal is liable for all the acts of hi« 
agent that are done within the scope of that agency, but 
for nothing outside or beyond that, unless he may here- 
after approve and adopt such acts. It is the duty of the 
agent diligently to follow his instructions, whatever his 
own judgment may be. Honesty, fidelity, and ordinary 
skill, are expected 'bf him. Where he has no instructions, 
he must conform to the usages of the trade. For actions 
within his inctructions the agent is not liable to third 
parties, but his principal is responsible. The power con- 
ferred upon him by the principal must be used for his 
benefit and not for the agent's. 

Insurance. — A contract by which one party under- 
takes to indemnify another in the case of certain losses is 
called insurance. This contract is usually in writing, and 
is called a policy. The principal kinds of insurance are 
fire, life, and marine. The policy should specify the sub- 
ject of insurance and the dangers against which it is issued ; 
all the conditions must be named in it. If there is not 
perfect accord in meaning of the written with the printed 
part, the written will be held to express the intent of the 
parties. 

If the insured makes an oral agreement with the com- 
pany issuing his policy that he will continue it from year 
to year, it is valid, but the premium could not be increased 
without notice. A policy is binding upon the insurer as 
soon as the verbal agreement is made and premium re- 
ceived, even if the policy has not been issued, and the 
subject of it has been lost in the interval. The insured 
must own, or have an interest in the property insured, but 



72 THE STATE. 

one who has no specific interest in it cannot insure it, even 
though he may have a claim against the owner in respect 
to it. But mortgagees have an insurable interest in prop- 
erty upon which they have advanced money. 

The business of insurance is generally conducted by cor- 
porations specially chartered for this purpose under the 
laws of the several states ; agents for foreign companies 
may also take risks under such safeguards as the laws of 
the state deem sufficient to protect the rights of its citi- 
zens. The applicant for insurance is to act in good faith 
with the insurer, to make no false representations, and to 
conceal no fact that may be material to its subject. Either 
an untrue statement, or the hiding of essential facts, will 
vitiate the policy. The conditions of a policy must be 
observed ; if it is stipulated that no intoxicating liquors, 
for example, should be kept on the premises, the violation 
of this condition might impair the right of the insured to 
recover in case of loss. A policy generally requires the 
insured to give notice of loss to the insurer at once, and 
to furnish evidence of the same, if required, within a rea- 
sonable time. 

Marine insurance covers losses of vessels with their car- 
goes, Avhether by fire, shipwreck, or a public enemy. The 
insured undertakes and warrants that his vessel is sea- 
worthy and well equipped with all necessary materials and 
the requisite crew, and that he is to engage in no illegal 
traffic. Marine insurance companies will generally issue 
blank policies to merchants, which will cover all property 
they may be advised of being shipped by the insured from 
time to time. As goods are shipped, the company is ad- 
vised, and a memorandum of the same added to the policy, 
which completes the contract. The blank policy is the 



BUSINESS AFEAmS. 73 

same as the usual one, except in leaving blank the name 
of the vessel, the ports to and from which she sails, and 
the premium. 

The purpose of life insurance is to provide a fund to be 
paid at the death of the insured to his family or legal rep- 
resentatives. The most usual form of a policy is for the 
term of the natural life of the insured, but it may be for a 
single year or for a term of years. One may assign a 
policy upon his own life, and it will be perfectly good in 
the hands of the assignee, even though he could not of 
himself have procured a policy upon the person's life, 
through lack of an insurable interest. • A policy obtained 
upon the life of another, in which the insurer has no pecu- 
niary interest, is void. A creditor has an insurable interest 
in the life of a debtor, and the wife in her husband's life. 

To the validity of a policy upon a life, it is essential 
that the insured shall have made no false representations, 
and concealed nothing in regard to bodily health, personal 
habits, or past history. Usually life policies contain some 
restrictions U2:)on travel in general, or at certain seasons, 
and also in regard to change of latitude of residence. As 
fraud vitiates all contracts, so especially is this the case in 
all kinds of insurance. Good faith and upright dealing 
are indispensable. 

Railroads. — As railroads have been adjudged to be 
common carriers, they enjoy all tlieir privileges, and are 
subject to tlieir duties. A carrier must exercise due care 
and ordinary diligence in the transportation of persons and 
property, and he is responsible for loss incurred by his 
neglect or failure to use them. He is held to the same 
degree of faithfulness that a careful man would naturally 
have in the transaction of his own business, and in the 



74 THE STATE. 

case of injuiy or loss he will have to rebut the presump- 
tion that he is responsible. He must receive all goods and 
passengers offered, and carry them to their destination as 
soon as practicable. He cannot discriminate among per- 
sons, taking some and refusing others, nor between ship- 
pers, or among goods, except that he may decline such as 
are dangerous and are offered at an unseasonable time. 
And he is responsible for the delivery of goods in good 
order at their destination in due time, unless prevented 
"by the act of God or of the public enemy." 

It is one of the risks that the carrier assumes, that all 
his servants- will be faitliful and honest, and he cannot 
escape responsibility through or for their dereliction ; if 
they are dishonest, he must make good losses incurred in 
that way ; if they are neglectful, he may suffer in damages ; 
and if they " strike," it is no excuse for the non-fulfilment 
of his contracts, and his general obligations as a common 
carrier. Ail these things he must consider when he as- 
sumes the duties of a carrier. Also, if he contracts to 
deliver goods at a certain place on or before a day named, 
an unavoidable accident will not relieve him of responsi- 
bility. It is generally held that a railroad in selling a 
ticket to a passenger, contracts with him, and warrants 
that the road is in good travelling order ; that all its vehi- 
cles and locomotives are safe and well equipped ; and all 
its servants diligent, faithful, and competent. If there is 
any failure in these respects, the road will be responsible 
for loss or injury to persons or property. 

All express companies, transportation companies, bag- 
gage expressmen, and forwarders generally, come under 
the rules apphcable to railroads and common carriers gen- 
erally. So, too, telegraph companies in many respects are 



BUSINESS AFFAIRS. 75 

held to the laws governing the relations of common car- 
riers to the public ; they must exercise ordinary care and 
diligence, and are answerable for neglect or omission of 
duty on the part of their agents. They are also under the 
additional obligation of secrecy; the contents of a message 
must not be divulged to any but its rightful owner. The 
violation of this rule has been held to be a misdemeanor 
punishable by fine and imprisonment. 

It is an essential of a telegraphic message, that the identi- 
cal words of the sender shall be handed promptly to the 
receiver ; a company is generally liable for any loss or 
damage accruing through the mistake or neglect of its 
agents. 

Canals. — A canal is an artificial waterway specially 
constructed for the passage of vessels. Since the intro- 
duction of steam and its application as a motive power 
for land carriage, the use and construction of canals have 
diminished. Before that time, and for some years later, 
they were used for transportation of both freight and pas- 
sengers, but now they are used for freight onl}' ; they 
generally carry such freight as either there is but little 
haste in the delivery of, or such as is of so bulky a nature as 
to add too greatly to its cost of transportation by railroad. 
The state of New York has always fostered her canals, 
and to them she owes much of her commercial greatness 
paid prosperity. Recently, by a popular vote in that state, 
all tolls upon the canals were abolished, and the cost of 
their maintenance became a public charge. 



CIVIL POLITY. 



oi^c 



Dekive the definition of Civil Polity by first defining a 
Civil State. 

1. Civil State. — A civil state is a community of 
persons living within well-defined limits of territory, and 
acting together under a permanent organization controlled ^ 
by self-imposed rules for the accomplishment of some 
common end. 

2. Civil Government. — A governing 'power is that 
which has authority to make rules of human conduct and to 
apply them in directing and controlling it. Governing con- 
sists in making and applying the rules. Government, then, 
must be the rules thus made, and their application. And 
Civil Governme7it is the rules made for controlling civil 
conduct, and their application to the citizens of a state. 

3. Principles of Civil Government. — A right is a 
permission to be, to do, or to possess something. Such 
a permission granted to man by the Creator becomes a 
natural right. If the permission be granted by one man 
to another, it becomes an acquired right. The objects of 
natural rights are life, liberty, reputation, property, truth, 
etc. The end to be secured by the possession of the 
objects of natural rights is our well-being. Man acting 
alone is unable to secure for himself the objects of his 
rights. He needs protection. 



78 CIVIL POLITY. 

Man living alone, would not be furnished with the right 
occasions for his proper development. He needs the right 
occasions and means of development. The existence of 
civil society is necessary for the right development of the 
social faculties and capacities of man, and it may be shown 
that civil government is necessary for the existence of civil 
society. 

In the existence of natural rights and in the need of the 
means of protection and development are found the prin- 
ciples upon which civil government is founded. 

4. Forms of Civil Government. — That department 
of the governing power which enacts the laws is called 
the Legislature. 

The department that interprets the laws made is called 
the Judiciary. 

The department that executes the laws is the Executive. 

If the legislative, judicial, and executive powers are all 
exercised by one person, a form of government will exist 
called a Monarchy., or Autocracy. 

If they are exercised by a few chosen persons, the gov- 
ernment will be an Aristocracy. 

If they are exercised by the people themselves, it will 
be called a Democracy. 

The principles of civil government have been illustrated, 
and the forms of civil government stated, and we are 
now ready to make an intelligent definition of Civil 
Polity. 

Civil Polity is a knowledge of the principles and forms 
of civil government. 

Ends to be Secured. — A government has accomplished 
the ends for which it was established, if it protects the 
citizens in the enjoyment of the objects of their natural 



CIVIL POLITY. 79 

rights and furnishes them the free opportunity of develop- 
ing themselves and their resources. 

That form of government will be the best, which is best 
adapted to accomplish these two ends. 

Government of the United States. 

As the different functions of the government of the 
United States are exercised theoretically by the people, 
the form is that of a Democracy. As practically the 
functions are performed by representatives chosen by the 
people, the form is that of a Representative Democracy. 
As the representatives are limited in their action by a 
constitution, the government of the United States is a 
Constitutional Representative Democracy. 

A study of the principles of our government and of its 
forms may be carried on together. A knowledge of one 
will throw light upon the other. 



80 DIVISION OF POWERS. 



CHAPTER I. 

DIVISION OF POWERS. 

The student may have learned, in the study of the state 
governments, that the powers of a government are neces- 
sarily divided into three groups, or departments. The 
duties to be performed in each department differ from 
those in the others. Experience, in governments that ap- 
proach a representative character, has shown that the three 
departments must be kept distinct. Even in countries 
ruled by absolute monarchs, there must be some delega- 
tion of powers and authority to inferior officers, and in 
such delegation there is a division of powers approaching 
that named above. To one set of officers is delegated 
foreign affairs ; to another set is delegated affairs of 
finance ; to another, matters of war ; to another, judicial 
duties ; and so of other matters. In limited monarchies, 
a legislative branch is established, by the action of which 
the ruler receives the advice of a class of his subjects in 
the enactment of laws, and the judicial branch relieves 
him of the burden of deciding law-suits of small moment. 
At the same time, the ruler reserves to himself the rever- 
sal of the action of all his subjects, whether of legislation 
or of judgment. The nearer a government approach the 
democratic form and character, the clearer is the line 
drawn between the three departments. The distinction is 
more marked in the United States than in any other 
government. Here, the administration of the government. 



DIVISION OF POWERS. 81 

is divided into the Legislative, Executive, and Judicial 
Departments. Each department has a different set of 
officers, and in but few instances do the duties or respon- 
sibilities of any set of officers include the duties or 
responsibilities of any other set. The President and 
Vice-President each have duties connected with legisla- 
tion. The House of Representatives, in cases of impeach- 
ment, has duties in the prosecution of offenders ; and the 
Senate, in the same cases, exercises judicial functions. 
The details of these matters will be treated more fully 
hereafter. 

The I/egislative Department. — This is the depart- 
ment that makes the laws. The word " legislative " means 
"law-bringing," or "law-bearing." The idea is that, as 
this department represents the people more completely 
than either of the other departments, and as the people 
are the source of all authority, — the will of the people 
being law in a republic, as the will of the emperor is law 
in the empire, — the enactment of laws is simply the for- 
mal act of expressing the will of the people, the putting of 
that will into words. In this sense, the legislature, or 
Congress, brings the law from the people and puts it into 
the form of statutes. " Law " and " statute " are but 
other names for those rules and regulations necessary for 
holding the people together in society and government, 
and for securing to them their rights. Li a more general 
sense, the legislative department determines what rules 
are best for the people, what regulations are wisest, and 
how and by what officers these rules and regulations shall 
be enforced. The constitution provides the officers by 
whom the general affairs of the nation shall be adminis- 
tered, but it has wisely left to Congress the duty of pro- 



82 DIVISION OF POWERS. 

viding such officers as are needed in the smaller concerns 
of government. In addition to the duty to make the laws, 
the Congress of the nation has been given authority to 
keep watch over all the officers of the government, of 
whatever department, and it may remove any of them 
from office for official misconduct. In the states, this 
department appears to be the most important one, but it 
is not so in the national government. 

The Executive Department. — This department ad- 
ministers the general laws made by Congress. It also 
may enforce laws if necessary by the use of the army and 
navy. This is a more important department of the gov- 
ernment than it is in a state. In most of the states, each 
officer of the executive department is separately elected 
by the people, his duties are separately defined by statute, 
he acts upon his own responsibility, and is responsible to 
no one but the laws and the people. In the general gov- 
ernment, the whole executive department acts together 
under one officer who appoints, directs, controls, or dis- 
misses each of them and all of them in the general work 
of their offices. All act under one plan. The President 
appoints, directly or indirectly, all the officers of this 
department, even to the lowest, and all are responsible 
to him for their actions. As the interests of the nation 
are greater than those of a state, the laws of the nation 
require greater elasticity than do those of a state, and the 
President and his officers have more discretion allowed to 
them than is allowed to such an officer in a state. 

The Judicial Department. — This department of the 
government interprets the laws and the constitution, and 
even decides upon the constitutionality of laws, and the 
legality of the action of other officers, and applies the law 



DIVISION OF POWERS. ■ 83 

to individual actions. As different persons disagree as to 
the meaning of the words of the constitution, of the laws, 
and of contracts, and as these disagreements lead to 
trouble unless some one has the right to settle them, to 
this department is given the authority to settle all such 
disagreements. The decision of the courts is as much the 
law as an act of Congress can be, and must be obeyed as 
such. 



84 



THE LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT. 



CHAPTER 11. 

THE LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT. 

The powers and duties of this department of the govern- 
ment have been generally stated in the preceding chapter. 
It remains for us now to consider its organization, the 
methods by which it exerts its power, the authority 
given to it, and the limitations placed upon that authority, 
by the constitution. The name given to this department 
is the Congress. 



Diagram of the Legislative Department. 



Leg^islative 
Departmeut. 



President, ^)?'o tempore. 
Secretaries. 

Sergeant-at-arms and other officers. 
Committees, 
r Speaker. 
' Clerks. 

Sergeant-at-arms and other officers. 
[ Committees. 
The President. 
The Vice-President. 



'The Senate. 



The House OF 
Represen- <j 
tatives. 



As will be seen by the above diagram, the legislative 
branch of the government is comj)osed of four parts, each 
of which has some duty in the enactment of laws. 

1. The Senate. 

2. The House of Representatives. 

3. The President. 

4. The Vice-President. 



THE LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT. 85 

Members. — The Senate is composed of two members 
from each state. They are elected by the legislature to 
serve for a term of six years. They are so classified that 
the term of one-third of the members expires every two 
years. This secures a membership of two-thirds of the 
body who have served two years or more, and who are 
thus familiar with the methods of legislation. The House 
of Representatives is composed of members from the sev- 
eral states, elected by the people, in districts, one from each 
district, and each district containing about the same num- 
ber of people. The members of the House serve two years. 

Qualifications of Members. — To he a member of the 
Senate, a person must be thirty years of age, have been a 
citizen of the United States nine years, and be an inhab- 
itant of the state for which he shall be chosen. A member 
of the House of Representatives must be twenty-five years 
old, have been a citizen of the United States seven years, 
and be an inhabitant of the state in which he shall be 
chosen. 

No person can be a member of either house of Congress 
while holding any other office under the United States. 
No person can be a member of either house of Congress, 
who had previously held any office under the United 
States, or had held any general state office, and, as such 
officer, had taken an oath to support the constitution of 
the United States, and had there-after engaged in insur- 
rection or rebellion against the United States, or h'ad given 
aid or comfort to the enemies of the United States. This 
disability may be removed by a vote of two-thirds of both 
houses of Congress. 

How Elected. — The Senate. The state legislature, 
at its last session before the expiration of the term of any 



86 THE LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT. 

senator, elects his successor. Upon the second Tuesday- 
after the organization of the legislature, each house sep- 
arately votes for a senator. If a majorit}^ of each house 
is cast for the same person, he is declared duly elected. 
If no person is so elected upon the first vote, the two 
houses. must meet together every day there-after and take 
one vote for senator : at such meeting the members of 
the two houses constitute one body, and a majority of the 
members of that body is necessary to elect. 

The House. After each census, a number is fixed 
upon, by Congress, for the membership of the House. 
The whole number of people, as shown by the census, 
divided by that fixed number, will give the number of 
people required for one member. Each state is then 
assigned its number of members -of the House, as shown 
by that division. In ascertaining the number of people, 
for this purpose, Indians not taxed are not counted, nor 
are the people living in the territories or in the District of 
Columbia, as they are not represented in Congress. After 
the number of members of the House is assigned to the 
states, the legislature of each state divides the state into 
as many districts as the number of members to which it 
is entitled. These districts must contain the same number 
of people, as nearly as possible. In each even-numbered 
year (1886, 1888, 1890, etc.) the members are elected by 
the people at the general election. 

Privileges of Members. — Members of each house of 
Congress cannot be arrested while in attendance upon the 
sessions of their houses, nor while going to or returning 
from such sessions, for any offense except for treason, 
other felony, or for a breach of the peace. No member 
can be made liable, in any civil action, or in any criminal 



THE LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT. 87 

proceeding, for anj^thing that lie may say in Congress. 
These provisions prevent any interference with a member 
of Congress in the discharge of his duty, enabling him to 
do his duty without fear. If a member could be arrested, 
while on duty, for a small and unimportant matter, the 
public might be deprived of his services, and often mem- 
bers who were obnoxious to any one might be so arrested 
upon false charges in order to jjrevent the exercise of their 
duty. Treason, other felony, and a breach of the peace 
are considered so serious that not even members of Con- 
gress are exempt from their penalties. If a member of 
Congress could be sued, in slander or libel, for words used 
by him in debate in Congress, or in the proper discharge 
of his duty, he might thereby be restrained from such 
fearlessness and independence as he ought to possess. It 
is better that he should be allowed to state what is not 
true, sometimes, than that he should ever be punished in 
any way for speaking the truth. 

Sessions. — The regular annual session of Congress 
begins on the first Monday of December. This is the 
time fixed by the constitution, but Congress has the 
power to change the time, at its pleasure. The President 
is authorized to call special sessions of Congress, or of 
either house, whenever, in his judgment, the public in- 
terests demand it. The first regular session of each Con- 
gress continues so long as its members desire to remain in 
session — usually it adjourns in June or July. , The sec- 
ond session closes, by constitutional limitation, March 4, 
at noon. Members hold office from March 4, to March 4, 
at noon, two years. 

Organization. — At the time fixed for the opening of 
the first session of a Congress, the Vice-President calls the 



88 THE LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT. 

members of the Senate to attention, and the Senate then 
elects its secretaries, sergeant-at-arms, door-keepers, and 
such other subordinate officers as it needs. If there is no 
Vice-President, the Senate elects a President, pro temjyore, 
from its own members. Usually a caucus of the political 
party having a majority of the members is held, at which 
members are assigned to committees. This assignment is 
adopted by the Senate, and the organization is complete. 
The membership of the committees is usually made up of 
a fair proportion of the two parties represented in the 
Senate. In the House, the clerk of the last House calls 
the members to attention. Thereupon, the speaker, clerks, 
sergeant-at-arms, door-keepers, and other inferior officers 
are elected. The speaker always makes the assignment 
of the members to the committees. The committees are 
arranged, as they are in the Senate, a majority of the 
members being of the party that has a majority of the 
membership of the House. 

Quorum. — A majority of the members elected to each 
house forms a quorum ; that is, no business can be done 
by either house unless a majority of its members are 
present. In the absence of a quorum, the members 
present may compel the attendance of absent members, 
and may adjourn from da}^ to day. 

Duties of Officers. — The Vice-President and speaker 
are the presiding officers of their respective houses. Each 
sits at a desk in front of the members, and facing them. 
He is addressed by the members as they rise to speak, and 
no member can proceed until he has been recognized by 
the presiding officer. In case two members rise and ad- 
dress him at about the same instant, he decides which one 
is entitled to proceed. He also prevents disorder or con- 



THE LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT. 89 

fusion in his house, keeps the members to the business 
before them, directs the subordinate officers in the dis- 
charge of their duties, appoints all committees whose 
manner of appointment is not otherwise provided for, and 
signs all bills that pass his house. In his temporary ab- 
sence, each house has the right to elect a member to serve 
during such absence. Each house elects, also, an officer, 
whose duty it is to record all the proceedings of that 
house, and to keep the papers and other documents be- 
longing to it, and these officers have such assistants as 
are needed. In the Senate, this officer is called a secre- 
tary, and, in the House, he is called a clerk. Each house, 
also, has a sergeant-at-arms, who acts under . the direction 
of the presiding officer in the preservation of order, not 
only among the members, but also among visitors. A 
door-keeper has charge of each door leading into the 
house, in order that only those who have a right may 
enter. Janitors attend to the rooms to keep them in order, 
and pages, usually boys, act as messengers for the mem- 
bers and officers during the sessions. There are, also, 
official reporters of each house, who take down, in short- 
hand, the remarks of the speaker, and of other members. 
These reports are printed in full in the official paper, 
called the Congressional Record. 

Rights of Each House. — Each house' deternnnes the 
election and qualification of its own members. All con- 
tests between persons claiming to have been elected to 
Congress are decided by the house to which they claim 
election. If any question arises concerning the qualifica- 
tion of a member of a house, it is decided by the house of 
which he is a member, or to which he claims to have been 
elected. Each house, also, may punish any member for 



90 THE LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT. 

disorderly conduct, and it may expel a member, by a two- 
thirds vote of its members. It is not restricted to any 
cause for expulsion. It may, therefore, expel for any 
cause that would render the member an illegal, undesirable, 
or unworthy member. 

Journal. — Each house keeps a record, b}^ its secretary 
or clerk, of its proceedings, and the same is published 
daily in the Congressional Record. The Senate has a secret, 
or executive, session, in which it acts upon treaties, nomi- 
nation of officers, and such other business as it desires to 
do in secret. The journal of these secret sessions is not 
published. The House is authorized by the constitution 
to hold secret sessions, but it does not do so. 



THE LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT. 91 



CHAPTER III. 

THE LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT. — Continued. 

How Members Vote. — Upon ordinary occasions, the 
members may vote by word of mouth, by show of hands, 
or by rising, or by passing between tellers and being 
counted. Whenever one-fifth of those present demand a 
vote by "yeas and nays," the name of each member 
is called, and he votes " yea " or " nay," and the vote is 
recorded. By the other methods of voting, no record is 
kept showing how any member voted. 

Rules. — We have seen that each house has authority 
to make rules. These rules direct the whole business of 
legislation. They state how the members shall conduct 
themselves, when bills and resolutions may be presented, 
what course they shall take in order to come to a vote, in 
what order of precedence motions shall be voted upon, as 
well as all the details of method and form in making laws. 
These rules are usually adopted at the beginning of each 
Congress, and may be changed at the pleasure of the 
house. The two houses, also, have rules concerning their 
relations to each other, and their joint action in the 
passage of bills. 

Coiniiiittees. ^ — These are appliances for assisting in the 
work of legislation. They are provided for in the rules of 
each house. The committees are named from the subject 
of legislation over which they have jurisdiction. The 
most important committees are those called Foreign 



92 THE LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT. 

Affairs, Finance, Appropriations, Judiciary, Commerce, 
Manufactures, Agriculture, Indian Affairs, Military Af- 
fairs, Naval Affairs, Public Lands, Pensions, and Claims. 
Each house also has a committee specially authorized to 
examine and report upon the expenditures of the money 
appropriated to each executive department of the govern- 
ment. Very few of the committees can take jurisdiction 
of a bill, of a paper, or of any subject, until it has been 
referred to it by its house. 

Bills. — A bill is the name given to the draft of a law 
when it is introduced, and in its passage through the 
machinery of legislation : after it has been signed by the 
President, it is a law, or statute. Each house may origi- 
nate bills upon any subject except one. The constitution 
provides that " bills for raising revenue shall originate in 
the House of Representatives," and that the Senate may 
propose amendments. The language of the constitution 
would restrict this exception to bills that propose to raise 
money for the support of the government ; but the uniform 
and almost unquestioned practice has been to apply the pro- 
hibition to bills appropriating money as well. The term 
is practically applied to all bills for raising or disbursing 
the public money. The House of Representatives is larger 
than the Senate, its members are elected directly by the 
people, and the method of their election renders them 
more directly representative of the people — of the popu- 
lar will. The framers of the constitution followed the 
example of England, in which the House of Commons, the 
immediate representatives of the people, hold the purse- 
strings. 

Methods of Leg-islation. — These methods do not differ 
much from those employed by state legislatures. When 



THE LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT. 93 

a bill is introduced, it is read by the clerk, either in full 'or 
by its title, as may be ordered by the house. If no one 
objects, it is ordered to be read a second time upon a sub- 
sequent day. If any one does object, a vote is taken on 
the motion to read it a second time. If the motion is lost, 
the bill is rejected ; if the motion carries, the bill goes on 
file to be read again. It is seldom that any one does 
object to a second reading of a bill. 

Upon a second reading-, the bill may be rejected, or 
may be ordered printed and referred to its appropriate 
committee. . After the bill is printed, a copy is delivered 
to each member of the house, and the committee to which 
it has been referred takes it under consideration. If tl|^ 
committee approves the bill as it reads, its chairman re- 
ports it back to the house, with the recommendation of 
the committee that it pass. If the committee approves 
the substance of the bill but does not approve its'^form, a 
member changes the bill to a form that will suit the views 
of the committee, and the chairman of the committee re- 
ports it favorably to the house. 

If the committee does not ap23rove a bill, either in sub- 
stance or form, its chairman reports it to the house, with 
the recommendation of the committee that it do not pass. 
When it reports a bill, the committee may state the reasons 
for its approval or disapproval, or it may not do so. If 
the bill is an important one, or if it has attracted public 
attention to any great extent, or if it has much influence 
upon politics, the report of the committee is usually accom- 
panied by a statement of reasons, often at great length. 
Each member of the committee is allowed to state his 
views separately, and sometimes this is done. 



94 THE LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT. 

After the committee has reported, the house may 
adopt or reject the report. If the report is favorable to 
a bill, and the report is adopted, the bill is then ordered 
to be sent to the Committee of the Whole. If the report 
is unfavorable, a rejection of the report sends the bill to 
the Committee of the Whole, or may send it back to the 
same committee for farther action, or may send it to an- 
other committee. The rejection of a favorable report 
usually kills a bill, although it may still be recommitted 
to the same, or to another, committee. In case of such 
recommittal, the house usually instructs the committee 
what action to take. The sending of a bill to another 
committee, after an unfavorable report from one commit- 
tee, indicates that the house favors the bill ; in which case 
it is sent to a committee a majority of whose members are 
friends of the bill. 

Committee of the Whole. — This committee consists 
of the whole house, but the formalities and rules of the 
house are laid aside, so that a bill or report can be dis- 
cussed or amended more easily and fully than can be done 
in the house. It is simply a committee of the house, and 
has no organization but a chairman, who is designated by 
the presiding officer of the house. The clerk and other 
officers of the house continue in the discharge of their 
duties however during the session of this committee. 
Whatever action is taken by this committee is merely ad- 
visory, and must be reported to the house for approval. 
Usually a bill is perfected in this committee and is passed 
by the house just as it is reported. Sometimes the house 
reverses the action of the committee. Some members will 
not vote in the house, where their vote is recorded, as 
they voted in the committee, where no record is kept. 



THE LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT. 95 

Action of the House. — After the Committee of the 
Whole has perfected a bill, it reports to the house the re- 
sult of its action, just as any other committee reports. 
The house may then vote to adopt or to reject the report. 
Usually, a "yea and nay" vote is taken in the house upon 
each amendment proposed by the committee. Other 
amendments may be proposed and voted upon at this 
time. In the Committee of the Whole, and in the house 
after a report from that committee, are the stages for 
amending a bill. When the house perfects a bill, at this 
stage, it orders it engrossed for a third reading, after 
which it cannot be amended without sending it to a com- 
mittee again. To engross a bill is to write it out Justus 
it has been left by the house, putting the amendments 
into their proper places. This copy of the bill is carefully 
compared with the original bill and amendments, by a 
proper committee. 

Third Reading-. — After a bill has been engrossed, it is 
so reported to the house, and is then called up for a third 
reading and passage. It is read in full by the clerk, and 
a vote taken at once upon its passage by yea and nay. It 
requires the presence of a quorum, and the affirmative vote 
of a majority of those voting, to pass a bill. After the 
passage of a bill by one house, the clerk certifies upon it 
the fact, and the date of its passage, a.nd delivers it to the 
other house while it is in open session. In that house the 
bill takes the same course already described, is subject to 
amendment or rejection, and is treated in all respects as 
though it originated in that house. 

Amended by the Other House. — When a bill is 
amended by the other house, the bill and amendments 
must be sent back to the house from which the bill came. 



96 THE LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT. 

If that house agrees to the amendments, it so votes, and 
the bill is passed. If that house does not agree to the 
amendments proposed by the other house, it so votes, and 
reports its action to the other house. The other house 
may then drop its proposed amendments and pass the bill 
without them, or it may insist upon its amendments as 
proposed. When such is the case, each house usually 
appoints a committee of conference. If those committees 
can agree, they report, and their houses adopt or reject 
their reports. Usually, the conference committees com- 
promise the difference between the two houses, and their 
reports are more often adopted than rejected. When 
passed by both houses, the bill is enrolled, that is, written 
out again in full on parchment paper, signed by the pre- 
siding officer and clerk of each house, and sent, by a com- 
mittee of the house in which it originated, to the President. 
Final Stage. — The President is one of the executive 
officers, but the constitution makes him a legislative officer 
so far that his approval of a bill is necessary before it can 
become a law. When the President approves a bill, he 
writes upon it the word " approved," and the date of the 
approval, and signs his name beneath. If the President 
does not approve a bill, he must return it to the house in 
which it originated, accompanied by a message stating his 
reasons for declining to approve. If he does not so re- 
turn it within ten days (Sundays excepted) after it is 
presented to him for approval, the bill thereby becomes a 
law without further action. If Congress adjourns before 
the expiration of the ten days, the bill does not become a 
law unless the President signs it. When the message of 
the President, stating his objections to a bill, is received 
by the house to which it is directed, the message is read 



THE LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT. 97 

and entered in full upon the record. That house then 
proceeds, so soon as it is ready, to consider the message. 
If two-thirds of that house vote to pass the bill notwith- 
standing the objections of the President, it is sent to the 
other house, accompanied by a copy of the President's 
message. If both houses vote, by two-thirds, to pass the 
bill notwithstanding the objections of the President, it 
becomes a law. This is called passing a bill over the 
President's veto. The message objecting to a bill is called 
a veto. Every order, resolution, or vote v/hich requires 
to be passed by both houses must be signed by the Presi- 
dent or passed over his veto, in the same manner as a bill, 
in order to be effective. ^ 

When Liaws take Effect. — The constitutions of many 
of the states provide a time when laws shall take effect 
after their passage. The constitution of the United States 
is silent upon that point. Therefore the laws of Congress 
take effect at once upon their approval by the President, 
or upon passage over the President's veto, unless the laws 
themselves state when they shall take effect. 

Publication. — The proceedings of Congress are so 
important that the nev/spapers usually give more or less 
full statements of them, together with a report of the bills 
under consideration. After adjournment, however, the 
laws passed at that session are published in pamphlet form 
and distributed to the courts and higher officers of the 
government, and sold to others. 

Adjournment. — Either house may adjourn from day 
to day at pleasure, but it is forbidden to adjourn for more 
than three days at one time wdthout the consent of the 
other house. The assent of both houses is also necessary 
to an adjournment to any place other than the one in 



98 THE LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT. 

which they shall then be sitting. In case the two houses 
cannot agree upon the time of adjournment, the President 
may adjourn them to such time as he shall deem best. 

Iinpeacliment, — The House of Representatives has the 
sole power to impeach an officer for official misconduct. 
The impeachment is tried by the Senate, sitting as a court. 
When the President is upon trial before the Senate, the 
Chief Justice of the Supreme Court presides : in other 
trials, the regular presiding officer acts. The proceedings 
in impeachment will be treated in the chapter upon the 
Judicial System. 



THE LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT. 99 



CHAPTER IV. 

THE LEG I SLA Tl VE DEPAR TMENT. — Continued. 
POWERS OF CONGRESS. 

As the government of the United States is one of 
limited powers, possessing no authority that is not given 
to it by the constitution, it follows that each branch of 
that government, also, must be limited in its powers. The^ 
first section of the constitution says that all legislative 
powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress. We 
must then look to the constitution for a list of the powers 
granted and of the limitations imposed. We shall find 
both, and they will be taken up in their order. Section 
eight of Article I. contains a list of the powers granted. 

I. To Lay and Collect Taxes, Duties, Innjosts, and 
Excises. — To "lay " a tax is to make the necessary order 
for its collection, accompanied by such a description of 
the property or person to be taxed as shall enable the 
collector to act intelligently. There would appear, from 
the words of the constitution, to be four things which 
Congress has power to lay and collect; but, in reality, 
there is but one : all are taxes, but differing somewhat in 
their kind, and in their method of imposition and collec- 
tion. 

(«) A TAX, as usually understood, is a forced contribu- 
tion, made periodically, by a person for the support of the 
government : this tax msij be levied upon property or 



100 THE LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT. 

upon the person. If laid upon lands or other real estate, 
it is called a realty tax ; if laid upon personal property, 
it is called a personalty tax ; if laid upon the person, as 
taxes for the improvement of roads and streets are laid in 
some states, it is called a poll tax, or capitation tax. This 
must be the kind of tax mentioned in sections two and 
nine of Article I. 

(b) A DUTY is a tax levied upon goods once only. 
There are two kinds of duties, differing in the method of 
levy and the character of the property upon which it is 
levied. A71 Imjjost Duty is collected from goods manu- 
factured in another country, and brought to this country 
for sale or use. This duty is levied when the goods are 
entered at the custom house, and must be paid before the 
goods can be taken from the custody of the government. 
Sometimes this duty is levied upon goods with reference 
to their value, — so many cents upon each dollar of valua- 
tion : it is then called an ad valorem duty. Sometimes 
the duty is laid upon each article, or measure of an article, 
without regard to its value — so much upon each pound, 
or gallon, or yard : it is then called a specific duty. 
Sometimes it is levied in both ways. The constitution 
uses the words "tax or duty," in the clause relating to 
immigrants and imported slaves. If levied upon the 
persons as human beings, it would be a tax; if levied 
upon the persons as property, it would be a duty, — spe- 
cific impost duty. An Excise Duty is a tax levied once 
only upon goods at the place of their manufacture, and 
collected before the goods can be removed. During and 
after the late War it was levied upon many kinds of 
goods, but now (1888), it is levied chiefly upon liquors 
and tobacco, — so much upon each gallon of distilled 



THE LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT. 101 

liquors, so much upon each barrel of malt liquors, so much 
a pound upon tobacco, and so much for each hundred 
cigars manufactured. This kind of duty usually includes 
all the methods of taxation except the annual levy upon 
persons or property, or impost duties. The taxes paid in 
stamps upon notes, deeds, drafts, etc., and the taxes upon 
professional occupations, or callings, and upon incomes, 
are property taxes, though generally grouped under the 
head of excise duties. The taxes upon professional occu- 
pations and upon incomes were levied and paid annually, 
like ordinary property taxes. All the other duties, impost 
and excise, are paid once only. 

(c) Uniformity. Under our form of government, 
there is little, if any, danger that the taxes or duties will 
be any higher in one part of the nation than in any other ; 
but the men of the Revolution had just separated them- 
selves from a government under which such partiality had 
been shown, and they took care to provide against the 
possibility of such injustice under the new government. 

((/) Objects. The section which we are considering 
states three purposes to which the money raised from taxes 
and duties may be applied : — 

1. To pay the debts, (a) Under the confederacy, there 
was no common treasury, out of which the expenses of 
the war of the Revolution could be paid. The Articles 
of Confederation provided that each colony should pay its 
share of those expenses in proportion to the value of land 
230ssessed by it. But all the colonies did not pay their 
shares. The close of the war found the colonies heavily 
in debt for the expenses of the war. As all were to share 
in the benefits of the war, it was just that the new gov- 
ernment, representing all the colonies, should assume that 



102 THE LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT. 

debt. This was one of the debts which the constitution 
authorized to be paid from the money collected from taxes 
and duties. 

(5) It often happens, in the life of a nation, that it has 
need of money at once, for more than it has on hand, and 
when it cannot await the slow process of levy and collec- 
tion of taxes. Then, it must borrow money, must create 
a debt. It cannot borrow money unless it has authority 
to pay. To pay debts so created is within the authority 
of this section. 

2. Common Defense. A provision for the common de- 
fense, for the defense of the nation and of its people, is 
a usual and necessary object of taxes. A nation must be 
prepared to strike back at assailants if it would exist, and 
such preparation requires money. 

3. The General Welfare. (cC) Under this head must 
be included the payment of the ordinary expenses of the 
government. Qi) In addition to this, there are harbors 
to be lighted and repaired, channels to be buoyed, coasts 
to be measured and sounded, ports to be protected from 
winds and waves, river channels to be kept open, canals 
to be dug, roads to be built, and many other works of 
internal improvement, which benefit the people of the 
whole nation in greater or less degree. To such objects 
the national money may be applied. 

II. To Borrow Money. — As we have just seen, an 
occasion often arises when a government needs more money 
than it has on hand, and needs it before it can be collected. 
The outbreak of a foreign war, or of a domestic rebellion or 
insurrection, might call for the expenditure of millions of 
dollars within a few months. To meet such an emergency, 
this clause gives to the government authority to borrow 
money. 



THE LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT. 103 

III. To Regulate Commerce. — (1) FOREIGN. There 

is no nation that permits outside persons to trade with its 
citizens, within its territory, without restriction. There 
are several reasons for this, (a) The government, througli 
its organized forces of police, army, and navy, affords some 
protection to all the persons and property within its limits. 
These forces cost money, and those who receive benefits 
from them should pay for them. If foreign persons can 
find a profit in trade in our ports, they ought to share that 
profit with the people of the government that grants the 
privilege to trade. (^) If the government had no super- 
vision of the trade between its citizens and foreign persons, 
it might find its citizens selling arms and other contraband 
articles of war to people who could not make them, and 
who Avould use them against us. The nation could not 
remain neutral in case of war between two of its neighbors, 
if its citizens could sell war-materials to either nation at 
pleasure. It would be inevitably drawn into the war. The 
nation is bound, in honor, to prevent its citizens furnishing 
aid to the enemies of any nation with whom it is at peace. 
For this purpose, it must know what is sold to go out of 
the country, and what is bought to come in. (c) It has a 
duty, too, to see that goods brought into the country are 
not injurious to the people in any way. This includes all 
degrees of injury, from the greatest danger to the slightest 
inconvenience. If the introduction of some goods would 
place the lives or health of people in danger, the govern- 
ment has a duty to prohibit such introduction. If only 
property is endangered, the duty is no less actual and plain. 
If such introduction of goods should tend to throw classes 
of people out of employment, or to cause a decrease of 
wages, or to encourage vice, or to increase pauperism, or 



104 THE LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT. 

to break down national character, the duty of the govern- 
ment to prohibit or to discourage such importation by 
any means in its power seems clear, (c?) In order to pre- 
serve a national character and national pride, the citizens 
of a nation must have an advantage over foreigners at 
home. What a citizen may claim as a right, a foreigner 
can request as a privilege only. That the rules and regu- 
lations by which the commerce of the nation is controlled 
may be uniform, they should all be made by the same 
authority, and be applicable to all places and to all per- 
sons alike. 



THE LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT. 105 



CHAPTER Y. 

THE LEGISLA TI VE D EPA R TMENT. — Continued. 
POWERS OF CONGRESS. — Cojiimwec?. 

III. To Regulate Commerce (continued). — (2) In- 
terstate. There is little reason for any regulation of 
the commerce between the states. The welding of the 
several colonies and states into a compact and unitec^ 
nation has been so thorough that citizens knoAV but little 
of state lines, except in regard to political affairs. The 
constitution has doubly guarantied that the citizens of 
one state shall possess and enjoy all the privileges and 
immunities of citizens of the several states. Therefore a 
citizen of one state can trade in another state with the 
same freedom from restriction and restraint as can the 
citizens of that state. It is clear, if we may judge from 
the language of the constitution, that the framers of that 
instrument had somewhat obscure ideas about the rela- 
tions of the states to each otlier and to the central govern- 
ment. This clause would indicate that they regarded the 
states as aliens to each other, very much as France and 
Spain are alien to each other. Only in matters of local 
government are they so alien. Duties are .not levied upon 
goods passing from one state to another, nor is there any 
inspection of them, or interference with their free transit 
in any way by any government. In practice, in commer- 
cial matters, the United States is one country, where-in 



106 THE LEGISLATIVE DEPAETMENT. 

state lines are neither regarded nor observed. Tlie regula- 
tion of charges upon the transportation of passengers and 
freight from one state into or through another is about the 
only subject upon which Congress has been asked to act 
under the authority of this clause. While there might 
seem to be sufficient power in the individual states to make 
such regulations as would protect their own citizens, yet 
such regulations would not be so uniform and impartial as 
the industrial interests of the nation require. Hence, 
Congress has made such regulations and enacted such 
laws as shall apply alike to all the states. 

(3) Indians. To some extent the Indians have always 
been regarded by the government as organized communi- 
ties, with whom treaties could be made. This was espe- 
cially so at the time of the formation of the constitution. 
Then, there were large nations of Indians who occupied 
the great tracts of country west of the settlements. There 
were reasons, drawn from the character of the Indians, 
which made it desirable that the commercial intercourse 
between them and the settlers should be very greatly re- 
stricted. There was a special necessity for making it 
difficult for the Indians to obtain arms and ammunition 
and intoxicating liquors. In addition, the same reasons 
that made it proper for the nation to have the right to 
regulate trade with foreign nations, made it proper fot the 
nation to have control of the trade with the Indians. 
Since the great west has been settled, and the Indians 
have become nearly extinguished, there are no longer any 
Indian nations, and hardly any Indian tribes. The In- 
dians are now under the protection of the national govern- 
ment, and all trade with them is, as it ought to be, under 
the regulations of that government. 



THE LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT. 107 

IV. Naturalization. — The United States is essentially 
a nation of immigrants. From its first settlement, there 
has been a tide of immigration from Europe — the new- 
comers came to stay. As the privileges and burdens of 
citizenship ought not to be lightly assumed, and as there 
ought to be some means whereby the government may 
know who are and who are not citizens, it is proper that 
those who intend to become citizens should do something 
to indicate that intent, and some record should be made of 
it. In monarchies, it is usual, when a person succeeds to 
the throne, for all the officers and men of the army and 
navy, and of the civil service, to take an oath of allegiance 
to the new sovereign. And it is very proper for a persoi^ 
who changes his allegiance to take an oath of fealty to the 
new government under which he is to live. To provide for 
these things, Congress has made rules and regulations gov- 
erning the admission of foreigners to American citizenship. 

V. Bankruptcy. — A bankrupt law is one that permits 
unfortunate business men, who cannot pay their debts, 
to deliver all their property to trustees for the benefit of 
their creditors as payment in full of all their debts. Those 
who have failed in business, not always by their own fault, 
and who have large debts hanging over them, have no 
incentive to enter business again, as their earnings could 
be seized at any time by their creditors. The government 
deems it better for the public good that all debts be wiped 
out, under such circumstances, and the unfortu,nate debtor 
be allowed to start again. Each state still has the right 
to make such laws upon this subject as will affect its 
own citizens, only. A state law cannot release a debtor 
from the claims of a creditor who resides in another state ; 
only a law of Congress can do that. At present (1888), 



108 THE LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT. 

there is no Jiational bankrupt law. Most of the states have 
one of that character. ^ 

VI. Money, Weights, and Measures. — All civilized 
countries assume the exclusive right to coin the money 
which the people use, and to regulate its value. In no 
other way can the people be sure that the coin in use con- 
tains the proper amount of precious metal, or that it has 
the* value that it pretends to have. For like reason, the 
governments take the right to determine 'the standards of 
weights and measures. Unless the governments did this, 
people could not know that they were buying thirty-six 
inches for a yard, or sixteen ounces for a pound. Money, 
weights, and measures, used by all the people, ought to be 
the same in all places in the same nation, and one author- 
ity should provide rules for making them so. 

VII. Counterfeiting-. — All governments have the right 
to punish those who resist their authority, or who inter- 
fere with their functions. In order to perform its duty in 
furnishing to its people uniform coin, and in emitting 
securities, it must see that the coin is not debased nor the 
coin or securities counterfeited. The right to punish 
counterfeiting the coin and securities of a nation would 
seem to be a necessary part of the right to issue them. 

VIII. Post-offlces and Post-roads. — These are new 
things in the history of the world. Anciently, among all 
peo]3le, there were arrangements for carrying the dis- 
patches of the government, — for conveying official reports 
and letters between the officers of the government ; but 
there was not, prior to 1635, any arrangement for carry- 
ing the letters of the people. At that date, the first post- 
office for the people was established, in England, and it 
was not until 1649 that the government of Great Britain 
assumed charge of it. The colonies adopted the plan of 



THE LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT. 109 

government post-offices and post-roads in 1710, and under 
the administration of Benjamin Franklin, who was the 
first Postmaster-General, it was rapidly extended and im- 
proved. The system became permanent, as a branch of 
government business, upon the adoption of the constitu- 
tion. To Congress is given control of the establishment 
of post-offices and post-roads, as the system ought to be 
uniform over the whole United States. 

IX. Copyright ; Patents. — These two rest upon the 
same principle. The right to the exclusive ownership of 
one's own inventions and of the product of one's own 
thoughts, is one of modern acceptance, although it is not 
universally accepted. Even some Americans deny th% 
right. All discoveries in the arts and sciences are neces- 
sarily costly in the expenditure of time and money. All 
work, too, that comes under the head of literature, is costly 
in the time, labor, and expenditures in preparation for it 
as well as in its production. It is therefore right that 
those who enjoy benefits from inventions and from literary 
labors shall pay for them. Some autocratic governments 
reward authors, inventors, and discoverers by gifts of 
money or lands or by pensions. The more modern, and 
the more equitable, idea is to guarantee to such persons 
the exclusive right to print and sell their own literary 
works, and to use their own inventions or discoveries, by 
themselves, or purchasers, for a term of years, during 
which time, it is supposed, they may repay thepiselves for 
their time and expense. This is the plan of the constitu- 
tion, which gives to Congress authority to carry it out. 

X. Courts. — The constitution provides for but one 
court, and leaves to Congress the duty to ascertain what 
other courts are wanted and to provide them, and to make 
rules and regulations for their government. £Art. TIL, 1 



110 THE LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT. 

and 2.] The court of the constitution is the Supreme 
Court, and the courts to be established by Congress must 
be inferior to it. 

XI. Piracies. — (a) Very few criminal offenses come 
within the jurisdiction of the government of the United 
States : most are left to the local regulation of the states. 
The boundaries of the states terminate at the seashore, 
but those of the national government extend to a distance 
into the sea, three leagues, or nine miles. Upon that por- 
tion of the sea not within the boundaries of any state, the 
citizens of the United States are within the protection of 
the nation. The government of the United States takes 
upon itself to punish pirac}^ and other felonies committed 
by any one within the three-league limit, or by any of its 
citizens outside that limit. . The power that provides pun- 
ishment for a crime should be the one to define that crime. 
(5) The states have no relations to foreign governments 
except through the United States government, and cannot 
make treaties with other nations. The law of nations, so- 
called, is simpl}^ a condensed statement of the treaties be- 
tween nations. There are, however, many rules regarding 
the intercourse of citizens of different nations and the rela- 
tion of nations to each other and to each other's subjects 
or citizens which are so generally embraced in the treaty 
stipulations of all the civilized nations that they are usually 
regarded as of universal acceptance. As between the na- 
tions accepting those rules, they are regarded as laws. There 
have been many books written to systematize and explain 
these laws. No one but themselves can make laws for inde- 
pendent nations. Therefore the national government must 
help to make all the rules that apply to the relations of the 
United States to foreign nations, and must help to enforce 
them by the punishment of those who violate them. 



THE LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT. Ill 



CHAPTER VI. 

THE LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT. — Continued. 
POWERS OF CONGRESS.— Coraimiierf. 

XII. War. — Every independent government must have 
the right to determine for itself when to engage in war 
and when to make peace. Every such nation nuist also 
have the means to repel assaults and to punish its enemie^ 
otherwise it would not long remain independent. To do 
these, armies and navies are needed. These are the police 
forces of a nation. Necessarily, the same government that 
has the right to declare war and to make peace, must have 
the right to raise and to use the army and navy, and must 
also have authority to make all the rules and regulations 
needed for their government, for disposing of captures 
upon land and water, and for arming, training, and officer- 
ing both arms of the service ; that is, to have full control 
of all the means of defense and of offense. In deference 
to the several states who desired to retain some semblance 
of sovereignty, the constitution allows the several states 
to appoint the officers of the militia, and to train the mili- 
tia under the rules to be prescribed by the Cojigress. The 
rules are to be prescribed by Congress, so that they may 
be uniform throughout the nation. The army is the body 
of national police force in active service, while the militia 
is simply a like force partially trained, which can be called 
out when needed. 



112 THE LEGISLATIVE DEPAETMENT. 

XIII. District of Columbia. — At the time of the adop- 
tion of the constitution, the nation had no located capital. 
Arrangements had been made, however, to receive the 
gift of a tract of land, ten miles square, from Virginia and 
Maryland, situate on the Potomac, on which to locate the 
capital. This provision is exjwessive of that arrangement, 
and states that Congress shall have, as it ought to have, 
exclusive control of that tract of land. The government 
cannot afford to be subject to the good-will of any one of 
the states ; it must be independent of all of them. The 
public buildings of the United States, its forts, arsenals, 
dock-yards, and other places needed by the government 
for any purpose, must, likewise, be wholly under its con- 
trol. Whenever the national government purchases any 
land within the boundaries of a state, for any purpose, it 
secures an act of the legislature of that state ceding to the 
national government exclusive control of the land so pur- 
chased, and of the buildings erected thereon. 

XIV. General Powers. — This is a sweeping clause to 
remedy any oversight in the grant of specific powers. It 
is useful in protecting the officers and inferior depart- 
ments of the government in the exercise of their duties. 
The courts would probably hold, in any event, that, when 
the constitution gives any authority to the national gov- 
ernment, or to any department or officer of it. Congress 
would have the right to enact laws for making such au- 
thority effective. Some of the state courts have already . 
decided that when power is given to an officer, all the 
proper means for the effective exercise of that power are 
necessarily given. Such view would probably have been 
taken by the United States courts, without this last pro- 
vision. The existence of tliis general grant prevents a 
great deal of dispute. 



THE LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT. 118 

XV. Slave Trade. — - In section nine, Congress is au- 
thorized to levy a "tax or duty" of ten dollars a head 
upon all persons .imported into the United States, and to 
prohibit such importation after 1808. The persons re- 
ferred to in this section were slaves, and the importation 
was the slave trade. So far as the " tax or duty " on 
slaves is concerned, the right to levy such a tax is a dead 
letter, as Congress prohibited the slave trade in 1808, and 
there can be no persons imported upon which such a tax 
could be levied now. 

XVI. Election of Members of Congress. — The duty 
to provide rules for the election of United States senators 
is given to Congress ; but Congress cannot fix the place 
where the election shall be held. That place ought to be 
the capital of the state, and each state locates its own 
capital. Uniformity and certainty in the rules for all 
governmental action are very desirable ; especially is this 
the case in the matter of elections. But there would not 
be uniformity in the flection of United States senators if 
each state should be left to make rules for itself. Besides, 
as the United States senator is an officer of the United 
States, the government of the United States should have 
control of his election. Nearl}^ the same reasons apply to 
the election of members of the House of Representatives, 
and Congress may make regulations for their election. 
[Art. I., sec. 4.] 

XVII. Electors. — While the method of electing the 
Presidential electors is to be determined by the different 
states, each for itself, Congress may set the day for their 
election, and the day upon which they shall vote for Presi- 
dent. It is important that all the electors shall cast their 
votes upon the same day, in order that each may vote his 



114 THE LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT. 

individual preference, without regard to the manner in 
which others may vote. [Art. II., sec. 1.] 

XVIII. Treason. — In the first part of section three. 
Article III., the constitution declares that treason shall 
consist of levying war against the nation or in adhering to 
its enemies, giving them aid and comfort. The constitu- 
tion does not attempt to fix the punishment for their 
crime : this it leaves for Congress to do. 

XIX. Public Records. — The constitution declares 
that the public acts, records, and judicial proceedings of 
each state shall have full credit in all the other states. 
Congress may provide the manner of proving such acts, 
records, and proceedings, and declare the effect of such 
proof. This provision was necessary in order to preserve 
the national character and to restrict the pretensions of 
sovereignty which states are apt to set up. [Art. IV., 
sec. 1.] 

XX. New States. — To Congress is given the sole power 
to admit new states. When the constitution was formed, 
it was expected that Canada would be induced to come 
into the union. There were, also, large tracts of country, 
once under colonial jurisdiction, but just then ceded to 
the United States by the colonies. The Colonial Con- 
gress had recently organized a territorial government for 
this north-western territory, and provided for its division 
into five states. This division was afterwards made, and 
the territory became the states of Ohio, Indiana, Michi- 
gan, Wisconsin, and Illinois. The south-western territory, 
claimed b}^ Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina, 
was unorganized, but was expected to follow the fortunes 
of the north-western territory. Maine was a detached 
portion of Massachusetts; Vermont was claimed by New 



THE LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT. 115 

Hampshire and New York, while the residents asserted 
their independence. This comprised the expectations of 
new states, at the time the constitution was framed. 
Nothing was known, or contemplated, of the great tract 
of country, west of the Mississippi river, which was after- 
wards purchased from France and Mexico. [Art. IV., 
sec. 3.] 

XXI. Public Lands. — Any right to own property 
must carry with it the right to make rules concerning its 
control. As stated above, much of the unsettled lands, 
that were not within the limits of any of the colonies, 
were claimed by more than one colony, and trouble was 
threatened in consequence. All this territory in tlie 
north-west was ceded to the United States just before 
the formation of the constitution was completed. This 
cession was made as a compromise. Some of the colonies 
refused to enter the union unless the cession was made, 
as they were jealons of the inliuence which the possession 
of large tracts of land, in the nature of provinces, would 
give. Besides, many thought that such possession of 
land, by states outside their limits, was inconsistent with 
the nature of the government about to be established. 
The section of the constitution concerning the right of 
Congress to dispose of, and to make rules and regulations 
concerning the territory of the United States, was inserted 
in order that there might be no question about it. The 
proviso that nothing in the constitution should be con- 
strued so as to prejudice the claims of the United States 
or of any state may not have been necessary, but was 
justifiable, perhaps, in view of the rivalry that then existed 
between the colonies. [Art. IV., sec. 3.] 



116 THE LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT. 

XXII. Nobility. — We shall soon see that the United 
States cannot grant to any person any title of nobility, 
and that no officer of the United States can "accept of 
any present, emolument, office, or title of any kind what- 
ever, from any king, prince, or foreign state." The con- 
stitution permits Congress to give its consent to such 
acceptance of a gift from a foreign ruler or government. 
This permission is very seldom used by Congress, and 
never except for the purpose oi enabling an officer to 
accept a present, or other honorary testimonial, in recog- 
nition of gallant and meritorious services, in the line of 
literary, scientific, or humane action. The American 
people do not believe very much in th6 value of titles of 
nobility, arid they are not willing that a taste for such 
titles shall ever prevail in the United States. [Art. L, 
sec. 9.] 

XXIII. state Tariff. — We shall see, also, that the 
states are forbidden to lay any duties upon imports or 
exports. The framers of the constitution evidently con- 
sidered that there might be circumstances connected with 
the cost of keeping some ports in order and safety that 
would make it proper for a state to repay itself for such 
cost from the commerce of that port. Hence, Congress is 
allowed to give its consent to such action when proper. 
[Art. I., sec. 10.] 

XXIV. state Troops. — While the states are forbidden, 
as we shall see, to levy tonnage duties, keep troops or 
ships of war, in time, of peace, or enter into agreements 
with other states or nations, circumstances might arise to 
make this prohibition burdensome and unwise : therefore 
Congress is authorized to consent to such actions by the 
states, when, in its judgment, the public interests will 
permit. [Art. L, sec. 10.] 



THE LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT. 117 

XXV. Ameiiclmeiits. — Congress has power, also, to 
initiate amendments to the constitution, of which the 
details will be given hereafter. [Art. V.] 

XXVI. Sundries. — Each of the three amendments last 
adopted, the thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth, contains 
a final clause giving to Congress authority to make all 
needed laws, rules, and regulations for the proper enforce- 
ment of the amendment. These amendments are of such 
a nature, being largely restrictions upon the powers of the 
states, that Congress could not enforce them without this 
authority. Without authority given to some department 
of the government for their enforcement, they would 
he obeyed or not, as each state might decide for itseli. 
These amendments will be considered in their proper 
place. 



118 THE LEGISLATIVE DEPAETMENT. 



CHAPTER YII. 

THE LEGISLA TI VE DEPA R TMENT. — Continued. 
RESTRICTIONS UPON CONGRESS. 

In the last chapter, we have considered the various 
powers which the constitution has given to CoDgress. In 
order that legislative authority might not be carried too 
far, the constitution has provided some restrictions upon 
those powers, and some restrictions upon such powers as 
would naturally belong to a legislative body. These 
restrictions are needed in order to keep the powers of 
Congress in harmony with a form of government under 
which there are other governments in some measure inde- 
pendent of it. 

I. Appropriations for tlie Army. — Congress has au- 
thority to raise and to support arinies, but it is prohibited 
from making appropriations for that purpose for a longer 
term than two years. The people are recognized as the 
real rulers, and this restriction allows the voters, in the 
election of members of Congress, to express their wishes 
upon the question of a war every two 4»years. As a 
rule, the appropriations of money by Congress are made 
annually. 

II. Bill of Attainder. — Ex Post Facto Law. The pro- 
hibition upon the power of Congress in reference to these 
two subjects has been discussed already. (See page 26.) 

III. Tax. — The right to levy a direct tax is restricted 
so that it must be levied in proportion to the population 



THE LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT. 119 

of each state. In effect, this restricts all direct taxes, 
which Congress can levy, to the capitation tax, or poll tax. 
It would be unjust to levy a tax upon the property of the 
nation, and then assign its payment to the states in propor- 
tion to their population ; for in some of the states the 
average amount of wealth possessed by the inhabitants is 
greater than it is in other states, and a tax upon popula- 
tion would compel the less wealthy to pay more than their 
share of the taxes. [Art. I., sec. 9.] 

IV. Export Duty. — According to the meaning usually 
given to this prohibition. Congress cannot levy an export 
duty upon any article produced in any of the states. 
During the war of 1861-65 an export duty was levieW 
and collected upon cotton. Although such levy has been 
considered to be illegal, the money so collected has never 
been repaid. 

V. Preferences. — The trade of a country, whether im- 
port or export, usually concentrates at a few ports. The 
natural tendency of legislation would be to make rules and 
regulations for such ports different from those made for 
other ports. In the eye of the law, all places should have 
equal privileges, and all rules and regulations should be 
uniform. So the constitution declares that all regula- 
tions of commerce and of revenue shall be uniform, shall 
apply to all ports alike, and that no preference shall be 
given, for or against, the ports of any state. It was one of 
the accusations against the mother country, thlat the regu- 
lations of the commerce and revenue, made for the colo- 
nies, were often unjust and preferred favored ports. Ves- 
sels were often obliged to enter at such ports, and to clear 
from them, even if they did not desire nor need to go 
there. As early as 1676, a law of Parliament required 



120 THE LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT. 

that goods, shipped from one port in one of the colonies 
to a port in another colony, should pay duty at the port 
where they entered. Such regulations were inconsistent 
with the theory that the colonies were a part of the British 
empire. Such regulations, continued under the new gov- 
ernment, would be inconsistent with the theory that the 
United States constitute but one government. Were the 
separate states as independent and sovereign as is some- 
times claimed for them, this prohibition would be out of 
harmony with the frame of government, [Art I., sec. 9.] 

VI. Punishment of Treason. — We have seen that 
Congress may declare the punishment of treason, but the 
framers of the constitution have wisely defined treason 
and placed restrictions upon the extent and severity of its 
punishment. The harsh rules of the English law, by 
which the punishment of treason was visited upon the 
children, and even upon the distant descendants, of a per- 
son, were very obnoxious to the more enlightened minds. 
Hence, Congress is prohibited from making the punish- 
ment of treason extend beyond the life of the traitor. 

VII. Xew States. — While Congress has been clothed 
with the sole power to admit new states, its power is 
not unlimited. The smaller states were afraid that the 
superior influence of the larger states might result in the 
consolidation of several small ones into one large one, or 
in the annexation of a small one to a larger neighbor. At 
the same time, the larger states were equally afraid that 
the influence of the smaller states, if combined, might re- 
sult in a division of the larger ones. In order to allay 
these fears, the constitution forbids the formation of a 
new state by the division of any state, or by the con- 
solidation of two or more states, or of portions of states, 



THE LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT. 121 

without the consent of the legislatures of all the states 
interested, as well as of Congress. [Art. IV., sec. l.J 

VIII. Sundries. — In the Bill of Rights, the student 
will find other restrictions upon the powers of Congress, 
— concerning the establishment of a state religion, the 
abridgement of the freedom of speech, of the press, of 
popular assemblies, and the exercise of religious belief, 
and others. These are fully treated in the proper chapter. 

GENERAL PROVISIONS CONCERNING CONGRESS. 

I. Compensation. — When we serve individuals in any 
way, we expect to be paid for such service. There d^s 
not seem to be any reason wliy any one should be expected 
to serve the public without pay. In England, the mem- 
bers of Parliament are not paid. As a necessary result, 
none but the rich can afford to be elected to that body. 
As another result, the legislation of Parliament is neces- 
sarily by, and for the benefit of, the rich. The framers of 
the constitution were not ignorant of the results of the 
non-payment of members of the English Parliament, and 
they wisely arranged that the same results should not be 
seen in the new government. The members of Congress 
are paid a salary of five thousand dollars a year, and 
twenty cents a mile traveled, as expenses of going to 
and returning from the sessions. The amount is fixed 
by general law, and is paid out of the natioiial treasury. 
[Art. I., sec. 6.] 

II. Appointment of Members to Office. — There is 
another provision of some importance ; this is, that no 
member of either house of Congress shall be elected or 
appointed to any civil office under the United States, dur- 



122 THE LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT. 

ing the term for which he was elected to serve as member 
of Congress, if that civil office had been created, or its 
compensation had been increased, during his service as 
member of Congress. This provision was inserted, evi- 
dently, out of a zealous regard for the best interests of 
the public, and in rebuke of a practice in England of 
making an office for a favorite of the king. [Art. I., 
sec. 6, 2.] 

III. Violators of Official Oatlis. — In the fourteenth 
amendment, adopted since the war of 1861-65, it is 
provided that no one can be a member of either house of 
Congress, who, as member of Congress, or as an officer 
of the United States, or as a member of the legislature of 
any state, or as an executive or judicial officer of a state, 
had taken an oath to support the constitution of the 
United States and had afterwards engaged in insurrection 
or rebellion against the nation, or had given aid or comfort 
to the nation's enemies. This disability may be removed 
by a vote of two-thirds of each house of Congress. 

IV. Oath of Office. — Before entering upon the duties 
of office, each member of Congress must take an oath, or 
affirmation, to support the constitution of the United 
States. [Art. VI., sec- 3.] 

V. Vacancies. — If a vacancy occurs in the office of 
senator, during the session of the state legislature, a suc- 
cessor is elected at once. If the legislature is not in 
session, the governor may fill the vacancy by appoint- 
ment. Such appointee shall serve only to the next session 
of the legislature. In case of a vacancy in office of mem- 
ber of the House of Representatives, the governor calls 
a special election for filling the vacancy. 



ADMINISTRATIVE DEPARTMENT. 123 



CHAPTER VIII. 

A DMINIS TRA TI VE DEPA R TMENT. 

This is usually called the Executive Department. As 
we shall see under the next title, there is another depart- 
ment charged with the special duty of enforcing, or exe- 
cuting, the laws. The chief duty of the administrative 
department is to manage the affairs of the government. 
Its head is the representative of the nation in its intCT- 
course with foreign nations, and indirectly so in its inter- 
course with the states. The student has learned, probably, 
that the governor is simply one of a half-dozen executive 
officers of a state, each of whom is elected by the people, 
and has duties of his own which he must perform accord- 
ing to his own judgment. Each is independent of all the 
others, — even of the governor. 

The governor, who is called the head of the execu- 
tive department, is hardly more than a co-ordinate officer, 
but with duties of a more general and responsible charac- 
ter than those of the others, and who occupies, in popular 
apprehension, the highest position of honor. He has very 
little, if any, control of, or responsibility for, the conduct 
of his fellows. In the national government, this is differ- 
ent. The President is endowed with powers and authori- 
ties often more than those possessed by the ruler in a 
limited monarchy. He appoints all the numerous officers, 
constituting many thousands, that are needed in the 
administrative and judicial departments. Those of the 



124 ADMINISTRATIVE DEPARTMENT. 

administrative departments, and a large portion of those 
of the- judicial department, are responsible to him alone, 
except for such misconduct as would subject them to 
impeachment, or indictment for crimes. He alone is re- 
sponsible to the people for the conduct of all those officers. 
His power is so [^reat that he often tries to dictate to 
Congress, and sometimes with success. In a state, ordi- 
narily, the legislative department is the most important ; 
in the nation, the administrative department is the most 
important. The head of this department is 

THE PRESIDENT. 

How Elected. — In every year divisible by four each 
state elects, or appoints, as many electors as the whole 
number of senators and members of Congress to which it 
is entitled. No member of either house of Congress, and 
no one else holding an office of trust or profit under the 
United States, can be an elector. The constitution gives 
to each state the power to appoint these electors in any 
manner that it may choose, but the people of the states 
usually elect them. Two or three states, for a time, 
appointed the electors through the legislature, but none 
do so now. The electors are elected in all the states upon 
the same da}^ which is the first Tuesday after the first 
Monday of November. On the first Wednesday of De- 
cember, following, the electors of each state meet at the 
capital of the state and cast their ballots for^ President 
and Vice-President. They then make out three lists of 
all the persons who received votes for President, and the 
number of votes which each received, and also lists of 
votes for Vice-President. These lists are signed by all the 
electors, and sealed. One list is deposited with the judge 



ADMIJSIISTEATIVE DEPAETMENT. 125 

of the District Court in whose territory the capital of the 
state is situated; another list is sent b}^ special messenger 
to the President of tlie United States Senate, and one by 
mail. On the second Wednesda}' of February, following, 
the two houses of Congress meet in joint convention. 
The lists of votes, sent in from the several states, are then 
opened, and the votes for each candidate tabulated and 
counted. If any person has i-eceived a majority of all the 
votes cast for President, that person is declared, by the 
President of the Senate, to be duly elected President of 
the United States. The votes for Vice-President are 
counted in the same way, and the result announced.? If 
no one person has a majority of all the votes cast for PreM- 
dent, the three persons having the highest number of 
votes are selected, and from those three the House of 
Representatives elects a President. In such election, each 
state has a single vote, — a majority of the members from 
a state casting the vote of that state. If the members 
of the House, from any state, are evenly divided, or so 
divided that a majority of them do not vote for one 
man, the vote of that state is not counted. The votes of 
a majority of states are necessary to elect. This election 
must take place before the fourth day of March following 
the election of electors in November. The President takes 
his office on the fourth day of March.J In like manner, if 
no person has a majority of the votes cast for Vice-Presi- 
dent, the Senate immediately proceeds to the election of a 
Vice-President, making the selection from the two persons 
who had received the highest number of votes for that 
office. At this election, two-thirds of the whole number 
of senators must be present, and a majority of the whole 
number of senators is necessary to a choice. 



126 ADMINISTRATIVE DEPARTMENT. 

Qualifications. — A President, at the time of his elec- 
tion, must be thirty-five years of age, must be a native- 
born citizen, and must have been fourteen years resident 
within the United States. There has been no decision of 
the courts, or of Congress, construing this last qualifica- 
tion. A loose construction would allow a native-born 
citizen, who had resided continuously out of the United 
States since he became fourteen years of age, and had 
retained his citizenship here, to be elected President. A 
more strict construction would render a man ineligible 
unless he had resided Avithin the United States during tlie 
fourteen years immediately preceding his election. The 
strict construction would seem to be the more reasonable 
one, as it is very important that the highest officer of the 
government, one wielding such extensive authority, should 
be in the fullest and deepest sympathy and accord with 
the thought, the sentiment, manners, and notions of the 
people. It is known that people naturally fall into 
sjanpathy with the habits of thought and of manner, as 
well as political and social sentiments, of those by whom 
they are surrounded, and with whom they associate, espe- 
cially if the association is voluntary. James Buchanan had 
been out of the United States nearly four years, as minister 
to England, at the time of his election to the Presidency, 
but no one raised the question of his elegibility. 

Oath of Office. — The constitution provides that, before 
entering upon the duties of his office, the President shall 
take an oath, or affirmation, in these words : — • 

" I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully 
execute the office of President of the United States, and 
will, to the best of my ability, preserve, protect, and defend 
the constitution of the United States." 



ADMINISTRATIVE DEPARTMENT. 127 

Salary. — The President receives a salary of fifty thou- 
sand dollars a year, and he is prohibited receiving any 
other compensation from the United States, or from any of 
the states. His salary cannot be increased or diminished 
during the term for which he has been elected. In addi- 
tion to his salary, he resides in a building owned by the 
government, without payment of rent, and a large share 
of the expenses of his household is paid by the govern- 
ment. 

Powers. — 1. He is commander-in-chief of the army 
and navy of the United States, and also of the militia 
when it has been called into active service. So far, in the 
history of the nation, the President has never taken me 
field in active command of the army, but he has directed 
operations by sea and land, through the generals and 
admirals, from his office at Washington. 

2. He nominates ambassadors to foreign courts, and min- 
isters and consuls in the diplomatic service, the judges of 
the United States courts, heads of departments, and all 
the other officers of the United States except some inferior 
officers whose appointment is vested by law in the heads 
of the departments or in the courts. When the Senate 
has confirmed the nominations, the appointments are made 
and commissions issued. 

3. He makes treaties with foreign powers. These must 
be confirmed by the Senate before they become valid. 

4. He may grant pardons, reprieves, and 'commutation 
of sentence for offenses against the United States, except 
in cases of impeachment. 

5. At the beginning of each session of Congress, regular 
or special, he sends a message, a copy to each house, giv- 
ing to Congress a more or less detailed statement of his 



128 ADMINISTRATIVE DEPARTMENT. 

official acts and of the condition of affairs in all the depart- 
ments of the public service, and recommends such measures 
of legislation as he deems necessary or desirable. He also 
furnishes to Congress information concerning his official 
acts and those of his subordinates whenever called upon 
by Congress. It is customary for him to do so upon the 
request of either house, or of one of its committees. 

6. In cases of emergency, he may call extra sessions of 
Congress or of either house ; and when the two houses 
cannot agree, at any time, upon the time of adjournment, 
he may adjourn them to such time as he shall deem best. 

7. As the representative of the Republic, he receives 
ambassadors and other ministers from foreign nations. 

8. He is also directed by the constitution to take care 
that the laws are faithfully executed. This is a very gen- 
eral power, and seems to cover all authority not specially 
given. He is unable, however, to direct the courts in the 
execution of their duties. The district attorneys and other 
marshals are subject to his direction in some measure, but 
the judges are absolutely independent of him. 



ADMINISTRATIVE DEPARTMENT. 129 



CHAPTER IX. 

A DMINIS TRA TI VE BE PA R TMENT. — Continued. 
THE DEPARTMENTS. 

To assure a more orderly, systematic, and economic 
administration of the government, its officers are classified, 
each class having to deal with a separate group of subjerts. 
These subjects are as follows : Foreign Affairs, Finances, 
Army, Navy, Miscellaneous Matters of Domestic Adminis- 
tration, Post-office, Legal Construction and Advice. In 
common terms, these are known as the departments of 
State, Treasury, War, Navy, Interior, Post-office, and Jus- 
tice. Each department is presided over by a chief, who is 
called a Secretary of the department, in all but two, — the 
Post-office and Justice ; these are called Postmaster-General 
and Attorney-General. Each has such assistants, subordi- 
nate officers, and clerks as are needed. The constitution 
makes no provision for this subdivision of the administra- 
tive department, except in the most general way, referring 
to it in Article II., section two, where it authorizes the 
President to require the opinion, in writing, of the princi- 
pal officer in each of the executive departments, upon any 
subject relating to the duties of his office. These depart- 
ments were created and their limits defined by Congress. 
Collectively, the heads of these departments are usually 
called the Cabinet of the President. 



130 ADMINISTRATIVE DEPARTMENT. 

DEPARTMENT OF STATE. 

This department was created July 27, 1789, at the be- 
ginnmg of" the government. At first it was styled " The 
Department of Foreign Affairs," but it includes, as will 
be seen, some duties not related to foreign affairs, and the 
name was changed to its present one. The Secretary of 
State has charge of the correspondence with our own 
ambassadors, ministers, and consuls sent to foreign nations, 
and with the like officers of other nations sent to this 
country. The department is divided into eight bureaus, 
each with a distinct branch of work. 

1. The Diplomatic Bureau has charge of all corre- 
spondence with our own diplomatic agents, or those of 
other nations in respect to the relations of this nation to 
the others. The United States keeps, at the capitals of 
Great Britain, France, Germany, Russia, Austria, Spain, 
Italy, Brazil, Chili, Peru, Mexico, and China, a Minister 
Plenipotentiary, and at the capitals of Denmark, Sweden 
and Norway, Netherlands, Belgium, Portugal, Switzerland, 
Hawaii Islands, Hayti, Turkey, Greece, Japan, Nicaragua, 
Guatemala, Honduras, New Grenada, Venezuela, Ecuador, 
Argentine Confederacy, Bolivia, Paraguay, Uraguay, United 
States of Colombia, Salvador, and Liberia, a Minister Resi- 
dent. The difference between the two classes of ministers 
is mostly one of rank and salary, the Ministers Plenipoten- 
tiary being of the first or highest rank, and the Ministers 
Resident being of the second rank. The authority given 
to those of the first rank is usually, though not always, 
greater than that given to those of a lower rank. The 
nations named keep a minister of like grade at Washing- 
ton. Oftentimes, upon special occasions, the government 



ADMINISTRATIVE DEPARTMENT. 131 

sends a special agent to another nation to act either inde- 
pendently of the minister or in conjunction with him. 
Through these ministers and special agents, all the diplo- 
matic correspondence is conducted, and all the interna- 
tional business done. 

2. The Consular Bureau has charge of the corre- 
spondence with the consuls and other commercial agents, 
with instructions sent to them and reports received from 
them. These consuls and commercial agents of the govern- 
ment reside at such foreign cities as have commerce with 
the United States. They inspect the goods to be sent to 
the United States, compare them with the invoices, and 
certify to the character of the goods and to the correctness 
of the invoices. They look out, also, for attempts to 
smuffffle o-oods to the United Skites, and attend to such 
other matters connected with the foreign commerce of the 
United States as may be required. They examine the 
clearance papers of vessels under our flag, and settle dis- 
putes between seamen and captains. In China, Japan, and 
Turkey, they are authorized to try American citizens for 
crimes committed by them in those countries. 

3. The Bureau of Disbursement attends to the 
accounts of all the oiBcers and agents under the control of 
the department. 

4. The Bureau of Appointments and Commissions 
makes out messages of nomination, commissions, letters 
of appointment, and other records connected with the 
appointment of the officers of the government. The library 
of the department is in charge of this bureau. 

5. The Bureau of Rolls and Archives keeps the 
originals of all the acts, resolutions, and orders of Con- 
gress, has charge of the publication and distribution of 



132 ADMINISTRATIVE DEPARTMENT. 

the laws, the treaties, and the constitutional amendments. 
The laws, resolutions, and orders of Congress are published 
in book-form, at the close of each session, and are distrib- 
uted to the princij^al officers of the government at home 
and abroad, in order that the officers may know the laws 
and their duties under them. 

6. The Bureau of Authentication has the custody 
of the Great Seal of the government, and of the seal of the 
department. It prepares and certifies to all cojDies of laws, 
resolutions, or orders of Congress, and of all other official 
papers, and attaches the seal of tlie department to such 
certification, and the Great Seal to all proclamations of the 
President, and to such other papers as require it. 

7. The Bureau oe Pardons and Passports has con- 
trol of all papers and records concerning pardons, reprieves, 
and commutations issued by the President. It also issues 
passports, and keeps records of the same. Persons travel- 
ing in foreign countries frequently, and in some countries 
always, need passports, which are letters from the govern- 
ment, describing the persons who carry them, certifying 
that they are citizens of the United States, and are entitled 
to all the rights which are accorded to citizens of the 
United States by treaty, or by the custom of nations. 

8. Translators. The department is obliged to keep 
skilled linguists in its employment in order to furnish to 
the head of the department translations of communications 
from non-English speaking nations. 

Each of these bureaus is under the charge of a chief, or 
clerk, with such subordinates as are needed. 

Some of the greatest statesmen named in American his- 
tory have occupied the office of Secretar}^ of State, — an 
office requiring the greatest prudence and the most skillful 



ADMINISTRATIVE DEPARTMENT. 133 

diplomacy. The first occupant of the office was Thomas 
Jefferson. Since him have followed John Marshall, John 
Quincy Adams, Henry Clay, Daniel Webster, John C. 
Calhoun, Edward Everett, William H. Seward, James G. 
Blaine, and Thomas F. Bayard. 



134 ADMINISTRATIVE DEPARTMENT. 



CHAPTER X. 

ADMINISTRATIVE DEPARTMENT. — Continued. 
DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY. 

This department was created by the first Congress, 
July 27 , 1789. It is charged with the execution of nearly 
all the laws relating to the raising of revenue and to the 
disbursement of the public money ; the rules concerning 
commerce and navigation, the survey of the coasts, the 
establishment and care of the light-house system and the 
marine hospitals, the control and supervision of the 
national banks, the coinage of money, and the collection 
of duties and internal revenue, — all belong to this depart- 
ment. 

This department, also, is subdivided into bureaus, each 
of which has a head officer, and such other assistants as 
are needed. It has three Comptrollers, a Commissioner 
of Customs, a Commissioner of Internal Revenue, six Au- 
ditors, a Treasurer, a Register, a Solicitor, a Supervising 
Architect, and a Special Commissioner of Revenue. In 
addition, the collectors are numerous. For internal rev- 
enue there is one collector in each state, in some large 
states more than one. For impost revenue, the country is 
divided into one hundred three customs-districts, in each 
of which is a city or town through which foreign goods 
are brought into the United States. In each district is a 
collector, appraisers, examiners, special agents, and clerks, 



ADlSriNISTRATIVE DEPAETMENT. 135' 

if necessary, to examine the goods imported, to compare 
them with the invoices, estimate the qualities and values 
of goods, and to determine what duty should be paid upon 
them. Such of these cities where goods are entered as are 
situated upon the boundary line of the nation are called 
ports of entry. If they are situated inland, the goods may 
be transported directly to them, in bond, and they are 
called ports of delivery. 

The division of work in the department, at Washington, 
is as follows : — 

1. The First Comptroller prescribes the method of 
keeping and reporting the accounts of the civil and diplo- 
matic service and of the public lands. He revises a^ 
certifies these accounts, and none can be paid without his 
certification. 

2. The Second Comptroller prescribes the method 
of keeping and reporting the accounts of the army and 
navy and of the Indian bureau. He revises and certifies 
these accounts, and none can be paid without his certifica- 
tion. 

3. The Comptroller of the Currency has imme- 
diate charge of the execution of the laws relating to the 
paper currency of the nation, to the national banks, and 
to their currency. He examines these banks periodically 
and as often as he deems it necessary, in person or by spe- 
cial agents. The plates from which the paper currency is 
printed are kept in his office. His annual report shows 
the condition of each national bank, its circulation, de- 
posits, and amount and kind of investments. 

4. The Six Auditors hear and determine all claims 
and accounts for disbursements under the appropriations 
of Congress for pay and expenditures of the several de- 



136 ADMINISTRATIVE DEPARTMENT. 

partments, as follows : (a) First Auditor, of the civil ser- 
vice list and private acts. (6) Second Auditor, of the pay, 
clothing, and recruiting of the array, armories, arsenals, 
ordnance, and Indian service, (c) Third Auditor, of sub- 
sistence of the army, fortifications, military academy, mili- 
tary roads, quartermaster's department, pensions, and mili- 
tary claims, (d) Fourth Auditor, of the navy, (e) Fifth 
Auditor, of the diplomatic service, whether regular or spe- 
cial. (/) Sixth Auditor, of the post-office department. 
In addition to his regular duties as Auditor, he also assists 
the Postmaster-General in the collection of debts and pen- 
alties due from contractors of the department, directs and 
attends to suits, civil and criminal, needed in the depart- 
ment, and has charge of the lands and other property ob- 
tained in settlement of debts and penalties. 

5. The Treasurer has immediate charge of all the 
public money of the nation ; the money is kept in several 
places. He has a vault in his office at Washington, and 
there is one each, at Philadelphia, New York, Boston, 
Cincinnati, and Chicago ; at each place is a sub-treasurer 
under his control. The money is paid out at any sub- 
treasury upon the order of the Secretary of the Treasury 
and of the Postmaster-General. 

6. The Register keeps the accounts of the public 
receipts and expenditures and the statistics of the navi- 
gation and commerce of the nation. 

7. The Coast-survey is in charge of an officer who 
is called a Superintendent. This survey is for the purpose 
of ascertaining the exact shape and measurements of the 
coast, and the depth of the water at all places on the 
coast. The results of this survey are very important to 
the coasting trade. 



ADMINISTRATIVE DEPARTMENT. 137 

8. The Commissioner of Customs prescribes the 
method of keeping and of reporting the accounts of the 
custom-houses, and has charge of the expenditures for 
erecting and repairing the buildings used in the customs- 
service. 

9. The Commissioner of Internal Revenue has 
the general supervision of all matters connected vrith the 
enforcement of the tax laws. 

10. The Special Commissioner of the Revenue 
is required to investigate and study the principles and 
sources of revenue, the best method of levying and col- 
lecting taxes, the administration of the revenue laws, aiid 
the relations of foreign trade to domestic industry. 

11. The Solicitor of the Treasury has general 
charge of all the litigation connected with the adminis- 
tration of the laws under which the department acts. 

12. Bureau of Statistics. In the Treasury Depart- 
ment is a bureau called the bureau of statistics. Its duty 
is to collect, arrange, and classify such information as may 
be procured, showing the condition of agriculture, manu- 
facturing industry, domestic commerce, the currency, and 
banks, markets, transportation, and wages, and the com- 
merce and navigation of the United States with foreign 
nations. Its annual reports include condensation and 
classification of the business of government officers, banks, 
railroads, steamships, and whatever information it can 
obtain from private sources. 



138 ADMINISTEATIVE DEPARTMENT. 



CHAPTER XL 

ADMINISTRA TIVE DEPAR TMENT. — Continued. 
DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY.— C'onifnuecZ. 

The Revenue System. — Customs-Reventje. As we 
have learned already, revenue is derived from foreign-made 
goods which are brought into the United States. For the 
purpose of raising revenue from this source, Congress 
makes a list of all goods, or articles of merchandise, upon 
which it desires to levy a duty, and against each article, as 
named, it places a sum of money, or a rate per cent. To 
illustrate : If a certain sum of money is placed opposite 
an article, such article is to pay duty upon a certain quan- 
tity to the amount of that sum of money : as, boots, 35 
cents a pair ; cheese, 4 cents a pound ; wheat, 20 cents a 
bushel; cast iron, $6 a ton. If a per cent is placed oppo- 
site the article, such article is to pay duty upon its valua- 
tion at the rate per cent named: as, blank books, 25% ; 
carpets, 40%. Some articles, as wool, pay a certain sum 
per pound, and a rate per cent upon valuation : as, cloth- 
ing wool, valued at 32 cents a pound, or less, pays a duty 
of 10 cents a pound, and 11% upon its valuation; if the 
wool exceeds a value of 32 cents a pound, it must pay a 
duty of 12 cents a pound and 10% upon its valuation. 
This list is called a tariff. The value of the goods upon 
which the duty is based is the value at the place of expor- 
tation, and is usually shown by the invoice or by other 
evidence. 



ADMINISTRATIVE DEPARTMENT. 139 

The custom-house officers employ experts to examine the 
goods and to report upon their value. When goods arrive 
at a port of entry, they are examined by the experts and by 
the examiners, weighed, counted, or valued. If they cor- 
respond Avith the invoice and are found to be correct, they 
are entered, and may be removed upon, payment of the 
dut3^ If an importer is found to have undervalued his 
goods, or to have misrepresented their character or quality, 
or to have tried to get them in without the payment of 
duty, the goods are seized and confiscated to the govern- 
ment, which sells them for the payment of the duties due, 
and the surplus, if any, is placed in the public treasury. 
The persons thus defrauding, or attempting to defraud, the 
government, may also be otherwise punished. 

This system of raising revenue is the most popular one, 
and, if fairly adjusted, is considered the best. By it sums 
of money, very large in the aggregate, are collected from 
the consumers of foreign-made goods in a way that is least 
noticed and felt by them. This system has been in use, in 
the United States, since July 4, 1789, when the first tariff 
law was enacted, upon the recommendation and approval 
of Hamilton and Washington. There have been frequent 
changes made in the rate of duty levied, but the system 
has been steadily adhered to by the people. This system 
of taxation has been used often for a purpose other than 
that of raising revenue. The first tariff law had a j^re- 
amble that recited its purpose to be to raise money and to 
encourage and protect manufactures. All statesmen admit 
the great value of domestic manufactures to a nation. 
They promote enterprise, productive labor, and division of 
labor, advance wages, increase and keep at home the circu- 
lating medium of a country, give steadiness to industry 



140 ADMINISTRATIVE DEPARTMENT. 

and commerce, and lessen the dependence of a people upon 
foreign nations, — in short, they add to the prosperity and 
well-being of a nation. 

Internal Revenue. The other system of raising rev-, 
enue is by internal taxation. Upon two or three occa- 
sions, the government has imposed a direct tax upon the 
people. This tax is apportioned to the states in propor- 
tion to population, and the states collect it by their rev- 
enue machinery and pay the amount to the national gov- 
ernment. This tax was levied once during the late War 
of 1861-65. At the same' time a stamp-tax was imposed. 
By law, every deed, note, check, draft, mortgage, will, or 
other legal instrument, had to pay a tax according to the 
amount of money represented by it. The stamps were 
purchased from the government and affixed to the instru- 
ment taxed. A tax was also placed upon the incomes of 
the people. An income of less than one thousand dollars 
was exempt. Incomes above that paid tax according to 
their amount, beginning with three per cent and increas- 
ing in rate as the amount of the income increased. An 
occupation tax of ten dollars a year was laid upon lawyers, 
brokers, bankers, insurance agents, and upon many other 
professions, and upon most classes of manufacturers. These 
taxes have now been abolished. 

There remains now only the tax upon the manufacture 
and sale of liquors and tobacco. Whiskey pays a tax of 
ninety cents a gallon upon its manufacture, and other 
liquors, distilled, fermented, and malt, in proportion. A 
tax is levied upon each pound of tobacco manufactured, 
and upon each cigar. Manufacturers and dealers in liquors 
and tobacco also pay an occupation tax, collected annually. 
A tax is levied, also, upon the circulation of state banks 



ADMINISTRATIVE DEPARTMENT. 141 

and private banks, bnt the tax is so high as to prevent all 
such circulation, which was the object of the tax. National 
banks still pay a tax, but it is little, if any, more than 
sufficient to repay the government for its supervision of 
them. 

These taxes are collected by the internal revenue col- 
lector for the district in which the goods are made, or in 
which the dealer does business. As in the case of custom- 
house collections, the government employs special agents 
and experts to see that no frauds are committed by the 
manufacturer or dealer. 

The collection of internal revenue taxes requires such 
an inqiury into the private business of the citizen that tie 
system has always been unpopular. 



142 ADMIJSIISTEATIVE DEPARTMENT. 



CHAPTER XII. 

A DMINIS TRA TI VE DEPA R TMENT. — Continued. ■ 
DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY. — Coniinwed. 

A Lig-ht-house Board consists of the Secretary of the 
Treasury and. six others, appointed b}^ the President. This 
board has charge of the administration of duties relating 
to the construction, the lumination, inspection, and super- 
intendence of. light-houses, light-vessels, beacons, buoys, 
and seamarks. All these are provided by the government 
so as to enable vessels to avoid rocks, sand-bars, and other 
dangerous places, either on the coast or at the entrance 
to harbors, or channels of navigable rivers. An experi- 
enced engineer has the immediate charge of the work of 
building them and of keeping them in repair. The coast 
of the United States is divided into districts, each of 
which is in charge of an officer of the United States navy, 
called an inspector. He has such subordinate officers and 
help as he may need in keeping the light-houses and light- 
ships properly lighted and cared for, and in keeping all 
the appliances of this service in good order. 

The Mint. — • The metal currency of the nation is coined 
at a mint. Of these, the principal one is at Pliiladelphia ; 
branch mints are established at San Francisco, New 
Orleans, Carson City, and Denver City ; with assay offices 
at Bois^ City and New York City. 

National Banks. — Tire present system of National 
Banks was established in 1862. These are private affairs, 



ADMINISTKATIVE DEPARTMENT. 143 

SO far as ownership is concerned, but they are chartered by 
the United States and are somewhat under the control of 
the government, through the Comptroller of the Currency 
and the Secretary of the Treasury. These banks are owned 
by corporations the same as state banks, and each share- 
holder is personally liable for the debts of the bank to tlie 
amount of the par value of his stock. When a national 
bank desires to issue notes or bills, it must deposit with 
the United States Treasurer bonds of the United States to 
an amount not less than one-third of its capital stock, and 
will receive from the Comptroller of the Currency notes or 
bills to the amount of ninety per cent of the bonds so 
deposited. If the bank should fail to pay its notes or bills 
when presented, the government will pay them and sell the 
bank's bonds to repay itself. The national banks are 
examined by a United States treasury agent, four or five 
times a year, in order to see if the business is done as 
directed by the laws and by the rules of the department. 
Whenever the banks violate the laws, the government 
may take possession and close them up. 

The first Secretary of the Treasury was Alexander Ham- 
ilton, one of the ablest financiers of the nation. Many 
able men have succeeded him, including Albert Gallatin, 
Thomas Corwin, John A. Dix, Salmon P. Chase, William 
Pitt Fessenden, and John Sherman. 



144 ADMINISTRATIVE DEPARTMENT. 



CHAPTER XIII. 

A DMINISTRA TI VE DEPA R THE NT. — Continued. 
DEPARTMENT OP WAR. 

This department was created at the beginning of the 
government, in 1789. The Secretary of War ranks next 
to the President in military dignity and authority. He 
has the whole oversight of the army and of its affairs. 

The same subdivision of work is found in this depart- 
ment as in the others. 

1. The Adjutant-General keeps the records of the 
army and issues commissions. All orders for the army, 
from the Secretary of War or from the commanding gen- 
eral, go through his office for registry and for his signa- 
ture. The annual returns of the army come to his office 
for registry, compilation, and comparison. 

2. The Quartermaster-General attends to the pro- 
vision of quarters, storage, transportation, horses, horse- 
equipments, and horse-provisions. He also has charge of 
barracks and national cemeteries. 

3. The Commissary-General provides subsistence for 
the troops and for military forts. 

4. The Paymaster-General attends to the payment 
of the army and of the Military Academy. The paymas- 
ters, who attend immediately to the payment of the army, 
act under his directions. 

5. The Ordnance Bureau furnishes and distributes 



ADMINISTEATIVE DEPAKTMENT. 145 

the guns and ammunition to the troops and forts, and lias 
charge of armories and arsenals. 

6. The Chief Engineer attends to the military de- 
fenses of the nation, to the improvement of rivers, and to 
the surveys relating thereto. 

7. The Surgeon-General controls all matters relat- 
ing to the purchase and distribution of the medicine and 
to the surgery of the service, the management of the sick 
and vi^ounded, and of the hospitals. 

8. The Judge Advocate-General has charge of all 
prosecutions under the articles of war, and he examines 
and passes upon all sentences of courts-martial and of 
military commissions. ^ 

9. The Signal Corps is a subdivision of the depart- 
ment that has charge of the signal service of the army 
while in active operations. There are various devices for 
transmitting information by signals, and new signals are 
being constantly devised. The collection and distribution 
of the reports of the weather is a duty assigned to this 
corps. Reports are received three times a day from hun- 
dreds of places in the United States, giving the degree of 
heat, of atmospheric pressure, the direction and force of 
the wind, the condition of the air, whether cloudy, fair, 
raining, snowing, hailing, etc., and often other facts, at 
each place. From these facts, an officer tries to predict 
the weather at each place for the succeeding day, and that 
prediction is sent by telegraph to that place. This branch 
of the service is yet in its infancy, and the predictions are 
not always verified. 

10. The Army. The officers of the army are : Lieu- 
tenant-General, Major-General, Brigadier-General, Colonel, 
Lieutenant-Colonel, Major, Captain, First Lieutenant, and 



146 ADMINISTRATIVE DEPAETMENT. 

Second Lieutenant. A captain has command of a company 
of soldiers, whose maximum number is one hundred. The 
two lieutenants are his subordinates and take his place, in 
his inability to command, in the order of their rank. The 
colonel commands a regiment, and the lieutenant-colonel 
and majors are his subordiuates, and take his place, in his 
inability to command, in the order of their rank. Infantry 
regiments have ten companies and one major. Cavalry 
regiments have twelve companies and three majors, each 
major having immediate charge of four companies, called 
a Battalion. The commanding officer of an infantry regi- 
ment has two assistants, — an adjutant, ranking as a first 
lieutenant, who has charge of his papers, countersigns his 
orders, and helps make his reports ; and a quartermaster, 
ranking as first lieutenant, who has charge of the supplies 
for the regiment. 

In cavalry regiments, the quartermaster has charge of all 
the supj)lies except the food for the men, which is in the 
charge of a commissary, ranking as first lieutenant. The 
Brigade is composed of two regiments or more, and is com- 
manded by a brigadier-general. A Division is composed 
of two or more brigades, and is commanded by a major- 
general. A Corps is composed of several divisions. Each 
general has an adjutant-general and a quartermaster-gen- 
eral, with such other aids, detailed from the service, as he 
needs. In times of peace, there is no aggregation of troops 
in brigades or divisions. The major-generals command 
divisions of the national territory or departments, and 
brigadier-generals have charge of subdivisions thereof. In 
time of war, it frequently happens that colonels command 
brigades and occasionally divisions, and that other officers 
hold commands equally above their rank. The lieutenant- 



ADMINISTRATIVE DEPARTMENT. 147 

general is the highest officer at present provided for by 
the law. He has his headquarters, or office, at Washington 
in time of peace. In time of war, if he takes personal 
command, his headquarters are with himself. The office 
of general, the highest known in the history of American 
military law, has been filled, but is now not in use. Sol- 
diers are enlisted, in nearly all the large cities, for a defi= 
nite length of time, usually for five years. They must be 
sound in health and of good character. The officers are 
appointed from jbhe graduates of the Military Academy at 
West Point. They serve during life unless they resign 
or are dismissed for misconduct. 

The Military Academy is under the control of a 
superintendent, who is usually an officer of high rank and 
of great experience. He is assisted by a corps "of instruc- 
tors and other officers. Each member of the House of 
Representatives is entitled to nominate for appointment to 
the Military Academy one person from his district. Each 
territory, and the District of Columbia, is entitled to the 
appointment of one person, and the President may appoint 
ten persons at large. Candidates for such appointment 
must be between the ages of seventeen and twenty-two 
years, of sound physical health, of good moral character, 
and must be at least five feet in hight. They must have 
had a fair education, and must pass an examination in 
English Grammar, Descriptive Geography, and the history 
of the United States. Members of the Academy are called 
cadets. They serve four years, during which time they 
are instructed in army discipline, and in all the branches 
of human knowledge deemed necessary for the discharge 
of any military service. While at the Academy, they 
receive one soldier's ration and five hundred dollars a year 



148 ADMINISTRATIVE DEPARTMENT. 

from the government, and must agree to serve the nation, 
in the army, not less than eight years, after graduation. 
Upon graduation, they are appointed to positions in the 
army, usually as second lieutenants. Promotions in the 
army are mostly made by seniority of rank; occasionally 
for meritorious conduct. 

General Henry Knox, of eminent Revolutionary service, 
was the first to fill the office of Secretary of War. Among 
the noted statesmen and soldiers who have followed him 
in that office are General Dearborn, John C. Calhoun, 
Lewis Cass, William L. Marcy, Jefferson Davis, and Edwin 
M. Stanton. 



ADMINISTRATIVE DEPARTMENT. 149 



CHAPTER XIV. 

A DM IN IS TRA TI VE DEPA R TM ENT. — Continued. 
DEPARTMENT OP THE NAVY. 

This department was not created at the beginning of 
the government, but all naval matters were controlled by 
the Department of War until 1798, when this branch of 
the service was added. The Secretary of the Navy has ^ 
control of all the affairs of the government relating to its 
navy and naval operations. The detailed work of the 
department is divided among several bureaus, as fol- 
lows : — 

1. Bureau of Yards and Docks. As its name indi- 
cates, this bureau attends to the navy yards, docks, and 
wharves, as well as to the buildings and machinery, and 
other property connected with them. It has charge, too, 
of the Naval Asylum. 

2. The Bureau of Navigation has control of the 
Naval Observatory, Hydrographical Of6ce, Naval Acad- 
emy, and the issuance of the nantical almanac. It fur- 
nishes to vessels the maps, charts, chronometers, and such 
other appliances as are needed by the officers of the ships, 
and such books as are needed for the study of the improve- 
ment of navigation. 

3. The Bureau of Ordnance directs in the pur- 
chase or fabrication of cannon, guns, ammunition, and 
other military equipments of vessels of war. 



150 administrative department. 

4. The Bureau of Construction and Repairs 
attends to building and repairing the vessels and boats 
use'd in the naval service, and to the purchase of material 
therefor. 

5. The Bureau of Equipments and Recruiting 
furnishes ships of war with their sails, anchors, water- 
tanks, and other equipments for sailing, and conducts the 
recruiting service for seamen and sailors. 

6. The Bureau of Steam Engineering superin- 
tends the construction and repair of the engines and 
machinery for naval use. 

7. The Bureau of Provisions and Clothing pur- 
chases the provisions and clothing for the navy. 

8. The Bureau of Surgery and Medicine man- 
ages everything relating to the purchase, distribution, and 
use of medicine and medical stores, surgical instruments, 
to the treatment of the sick and wounded, and has charge 
of the marine hospital. 

9. Naval Academy. This is located at Annapolis, 
Maryland, and is under the charge of a superintendent. 
In this institution, young men are trained for officers of 
the navy. Each member of the House of Representatives 
is entitled to nominate, for appointment, one person from 
his district. Each territory, and the District of Columbia, 
is also entitled to one, and the President may appoint ten 
at laroce. Candidates for admission must be between the 
ages of fourteen and eighteen years, phj^sically sound, and 
possessed of a fair education in the common branches and 
in the elements of Algebra. The term of study and dis- 
cipline is six years, during which time the student is 
drilled and instructed in all the discipline and learning 
deemed to be necessarj^ to naval officers. The students 



ADMINISTRATIVE DEPARTMENT. 151 

receive one ration a day, and five hundred dollars a year. 
The officers of the navy are appointed from the graduates 
of the Academy, and they are promoted in the line of 
seniority, usually, but ofttimes for meritorious deeds. 

10. The Navy. The officers of the Navy consist of 
Admiral, Vice-Admiral, Commodore, Captain, Commander, 
Lieutenant-Commander, Lieutenant, Master, and Ensign. 

The vessels of the United States Navy are divided into 
four classes : — 

(a) Vessels of the first class carry forty guns, or more, 
and are commanded by commodores. 

(5) Vessels of the second class carry less than forty, and 
more than twenty, guns, and are commanded by captains. V 

(c) Vessels of the tlm%i class carry twenty guns, or nearly 
that number, and are commanded by commanders. 

(c^) Vessels of the fourth class are those of the smallest 
size, and are commanded by lieutenant-commanders. 

The rear-admiral has command of all the navy of the 
nation, and may command a fleet in person. In active 
service, a commodore often has command of a squadron, 
or even of a fleet ; a captain may command a first-clas* 
vessel, or even a squadron ; and other officers may hold 
command above their rank, as is done sometimes in the 
army. 

The Navy Department has had at its head many men of 
high character, such as J. Crowningshield, S. L. Southard, 
James K. Paulding, Abel P. Upshur, George Bancroft, 
the historian, John P. Kennedy, Gideon Welles. 



152 ADMINISTHATIVE DEPARTMENT. 

CHAPTER XV. 

A D MINTS TRA TI VE DEPA R TMENT. — Continued. 
DEPARTMENT OP THE INTERIOR. 

This department was not organized until 1849. Prior 
to that date, the various' functions of government, now 
performed by that department, belonged to several of the 
other departments. The duties of the officers of this 
department are confined to matters of a domestic nature. 
There are several bureaus for the proper and systematic 
discharge of its duties. 

■ 1. The Commissioner of Public Lands is charged 
with the survey, management, and sale of the lands of the 
government and the issuance of patents therefor. 

2. The Commissioner oy Pensions examines and 
adjusts all claims arising under the laws granting bounties 
'or pensions for military or naval services. 

3. The Commissioner of Indian Affairs has charge 
of all matters connected with the government of the 
Indians, whether in tribes or on reservations. Treaties 
are made with the Indians, their lands are managed, 
bought and sold, annuities paid, rations issued, trade con- 
ducted, through agents of this bureau. 

4. The Commissioner of Patents examines and 
passes upon all applications for patents for useful dis- 
coveries, inventions, and improvements. 

5. The Commissioner of Agriculture obtains and 
preserves all information possible concerning agriculture. 



ADMINISTRATIVE DEPARTMENT. 163 

whether obtained from books, correspondence, practical 
and scientific experimen4;s, by collection of statistics, or 
by any other possible means, — collects seeds and plants, 
and tests them. He distributes information, seeds, and 
plants among agriculturists and others interested in that 
branch of industry. 

6. The Commissioner of Education is directed to 
make investigations concerning the condition and progress 
of education in the several states and territories, collect 
information respecting the organization and management 
of schools, school systems, and methods of teaching. The 
statistics and other information collected is distributed to 
all those interested in education. w 

7. The Census is taken every ten years under the 
direction of this department, by a special officer appointed 
for that purpose, styled the Superintendent of the Census. 
He is appointed for the special census, and holds his office 
until the conclusion of the work, only. 

8. The Superintendent op Public Documents keeps 
and distributes all the documents and other publications 
issued by the government for distribution. The laws pro- 
vide for the proper distribution of them in such manner 
that they will be sent to such only as are interested in 
their contents. 

Patents. — The inventor or owner of a new or useful 
art, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or 
improvement thereof, not known to, nor used by, others in 
this country, nor patented nor described in any printed 
publication in this or any foreign country, before the 
claimed invention, and not in public use nor on sale for 
a year before, may have a patent for the same. The appli- 
cant for a patent must send a written or printed descrip- 



154 ADMINISTRATIVE DEPARTMENT. 

tion of the invention to the commissioner of patents. 
Such description must include the manner and process of 
making, constructing, compounding, and using the dis- 
covery in plain language, — -the explanation and descrip- 
tion to be so clear and plain as to distinguish it from all 
other things of a like nature, — drawings and models of 
machines to accompany description, if possible. The 
applicant must also swear that he believes himself to be 
the first inventor or discoverer of the article for which a 
patent is asked. 

Upon the receipt of such application, the examiner of 
the office examines it and the drawings and models, and 
if the claim of the applicant appears to be just, letters 
are issued, granting to the person named the exclusive 
right to make, construct, compound, and to sell the arti- 
cle named, in the United States, for a period of seven- 
teen years. Upon every article so patented, or upon 
its wrappings, and issued for sale under such patent, 
there must be legibly cut, stamped, moulded, or printed, 
as the case may be, the word " Patented " and the date 
of such patent. If, at the end of the seventeen years, 
the patentee can show that he has received no reasonable 
amount of remuneration from his invention, he may have 
his patent extended seven years. Notice of application 
for such extension must be published under the direction 
of the commissioner of patents. 

Trade Marks. The patent office has charge, also, 
of the issuance of "trade marks." These are devices 
which are frequently adopted by manufacturers or dealers 
to mark the goods in which they deal, or which they make. 
Upon a proper application, with a full statement of the 
facts of the matter, a certificate will be issued and the 



. ADMINISTRATIVE DEPARTMENT. 155 

persons named will have, thereafter, for thirty years, 
the exclusive right to the use of such trade mark. The 
words "trade mark" must be used in close connection 
with the device adopted, in order to be a protection. At 
the expiration of the thirty years, the certificate may be 
renewed for another thirty years. 



156 



ADMINISTEATIVE DEPAKTMENT. 



CHAPTER XVI. 

A D MINIS TRA TI VE DEPA R TMENT. -— Continued. 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR. — C'ontmwed 

THE PUBLIC LANDS. 

The public land of the United States is divided into 
townships, which are six miles square, and contain thirty- 
six sections. Each section comprises six hundred and 
forty acres. These sections are subdivided into forty-acre* 
tracts. 

Map of a township, showing how the sections are 
numbered : — 



6 


5 


4 


3 


2 


1 


7 


8 


9 


10 


11 


12 


18 


17 


16 


15 


14 


13 


19 


20 


21 


22 


23 


24 


30 


29 


28 


27 


26 


25 


31 


32 


33 


34 


35 


36 



ADMINISTEATIVE DEPARTMENT. 



157 



North-west 
quarter. 


<4H 


West half 
of 

S.W. X- 


N.E.X 
of 

s.w.x- 


S.E.X 
of 

s.w.x- 



Map of a section of land, sliowing how it may be 
subdivided or described : — 

This division and descrip- 
tion can be varied so as to 
describe the north half, the 
south half, or the west half ; 
also, any other quarter, or 
half of a quarter, or quarter 
of a quarter. An eighty- 
acre tract may comprise the 
north-west quarter of the 
south-east quarter, and the 
north-east quarter of the 
south-west quarter, — so a 

quarter-section may be composed of the four central forty- 
acre tracts. 

In making its surveys, the government establishes a 
base line, generally the line dividing states, and the 
townships are numbered north and south of this base line. 
Another line, sometimes a meridian, is taken, and the 
ranges are numbered, sometimes east, but generally west, 
of this line. A tract of government land is described as 
lying in such a township north or south of a named base 
line and in such a range east, or west, of such a meridian. 
As an example ; the boundary line between the states of 
Kansas and Nebraska is a base line. The sixth principal 
meridian is the boundary line of the counties (in Nebraska) 
of Jefferson on the east, and Thayer on the west, running 
north through the state. In the state of Nebraska, all 
the land is numbered by range from that principal merid- 
ian. Land in the north-eastern township of Saline 
county would be described as in township eight, north, 



158 



ADMINISTRATIVE DEPARTMENT. 



and in range four, east of the sixth principal meridian, in 
Nebraska. In like manner, the land lying in the town- 
ship in which is situate North Loup, in Valley county, 
Nebraska, would be described as in township eighteen, 
north, in range thirteen, west of the sixth principal 
meridian, in Nebraska. 

Following is a chart showing how land is surveyed and 
described with reference to a Principal Meridian and a 
Base Line : — 



jjaoc J 


-/ilJC 










KOR" 


rH. 
















A 












6 


























f^ 


5 


























-13 

^ 


4 


























1 


3 


A/. 


■.BR 


45A 


A 




















2 










B 




1- 

C/5 


6 


5 


4 


3 


2 


/ 


/ 


2 


3 


4 


S 


6 




^ 




Ba 


se 






C 


/ 






Lin 


p 




















2 


























\ 


3 




/Caa 


'SA. 


> 


















^ 


4 






D 




















^^ 


S 




























6 
























i 


, 








■ . 




1 





SOUTH. 

^= section six, in townsliip six north and range six west of the Sixth 
Principal Meridian, in Thayer County, Nebraska. 

D= section twenty -two, in township four south and range four east of the 
Sixth Principal Meridian, in Washington County, Kansas. 



ADMINISTRATIVE DEPARTMENT. 159 

1. Cash Sales. — The government disposes of the public 

lands in several methods. After they are surveyed, they 
may be offered for sale to the highest bidder for cash, so 
that the price is not less than the amount fixed by law, 
namely: $1.25 an acre for land outside the limits of 
the grants to railroads, and $2.50 an acre for land inside 
such grants. This method of sale has been abandoned in 
practice, although it is in force in the statute. 

2. Pre-emptions. — The unsold land may be settled 
upon by the head of a family, man or woman, or by a single 
person who is twenty-one years of age. A pre-ernptor 
must make actual settlement and occupancy, and must 
build a house upon it. Within thirty days thereafter, he 
must file a declaration of intention to purchase. He must 
occupy and improve the land continuously during one 
year, at the end of which time he must make proof of the 
occupancy and improvement, and pay for the land at the 
government price. The amount is limited to one hundred 
sixty acres to each pre-emptor. 

3. Homesteads. — A homestead of one hundred sixty 
acres can be obtained without any payment, except for 
land-office fees, by any head of a family, man or woman, 
or by any single person who is twenty-one years of age, 
and who has never borne arms against the United States, 
nor given aid or comfort to its enemies. For this purpose 
a formal entry is made at the time of settlement. A 
residence upon, and improvement of, such land, contin- 
uously, during a period of five years, is necessary. Proof 
of such settlement and improvement must be made before 
patent can be issued. 

4. Soldier's Homestead. — A special act of Congress 
was passed soon after the close of the Rebellion of 1861-65, 



160 ADMINISTRATIVE DEPARTMENT. 

by which the time during which a soklier or sailor served 
ill that war with the Union forces, should be deducted 
from the five years required for residence. The soldier 
must so reside upon the land at least one year. Also, a 
declaration of intention to take a homestead under such 
act can be made six months before formal entry and settle- 
ment need to be made. 

5. Tiiiiber-Ciilture Claims. — Any head of a family, 
man or woman, or any single person who is twenty-one 
years of age, may enter one hundred sixty acres of land 
without any payment, except for the fees of the land 
office. Land so entered must be free from timber of all 
kinds. In order to obtain title from the government, the 
person must cultivate the land during eight years, as fol- 
lows : If the entry is one hundred sixty acres, he is re- 
quired to break and plow five acres, the first year ; during 
the second year, he must put into a crop or into trees the five 
acres already plowed, and must break and plow five acres 
more ; in the third year, the land broken the first year 
must be set out to trees, or planted to timber seed, not 
less than twenty-seven hundred to the acre ; in the fourth 
year, the other five acres must be planted in the same way. 
Thereafter, the trees must be cultivated so that, at the 
time of proving up, the ten acres shall contain not less 
than six hundred seventy-five living, thrifty timber trees 
growing upon each acre. Proof may be made at the end 
of eight years from the date of the entry, or within five 
years thereafter, and title received. 

6. Other Lands. — There are provisions of law by which 
persons may obtain lands containing minerals, coal, stone, 
timber, desert lands, and saline lands, by making a defi- 
nite amount of improvement, or by doing work to a certain 
amount thereon each year. 



ADMINISTRATIVE DEPARTMENT. 161 

The homestead law is the only part of the land system 
now remaining, that is interesting to the average citizen. 
The rights to acquire lands by direct purchase, and under 
the pre-emption and timber-culture acts will soon be re- 
pealed. The acquisition of the other lands, last men- 
tioned, cannot be made without more capital than the 
ordinary citizen possesses. The land for agricultural pur- 
poses must, hereafter, be acquired under the homestead 
act. 

Among the men of great ability who have filled the 
ofhce of Secretary of the Interior, may be mentioned 
Thomas H. Ewing, Alexander H. Stewart, James Harlan, 
Jacob D. Cox. 



162 ADMINISTRATIVE DEPARTMENT. 



CHAPTER XVII. 

A DMINl STRATI VE DEPA R TMENT. — Continued. 
DEPARTMENT OF THE POST-OFFICE. 

The officer at the head of this department is called the 
Postmaster-General. He has control of all matters con- 
nected with the management of the post-offices of the 
nation, the carrying of the mail, both domestic and for- 
eign, and the appointment of postmasters whose salaries 
are less than one thousand dollars per j^ear. The Post- 
master-General has three chiefs of bureaus, styled Assistant 
Postmaster-Generals, besides other subordinate officers. 

1. The First Assistant Postmaster-General has 
charge of the appointment-office, and attends to the estab- 
lishment and discontinuance of post-offices, changes of 
sites and of names, appointment and removal of post- 
masters within the jurisdiction of the department, and of 
local agents. He also attends to the supplies of stamps 
and balances, blanks, and stationery for the service. He 
supervises the ocean mail steamship lines, and the foreign 
and international postal service. 

2. The Second Assistant Postmaster-General is 
at the head of the contract-office. He manages the mail 
routes, places them under contract, determines the trips, 
conveyances, departures, and arrivals on all mail routes, 
the points of distribution, and the regulations for the gov- 
ernment of the domestic mail service. 



ADMINISTRATIVE DEPARTMENT. 163 

3. The Third Assistant Postmaster-General is 
the head of the finance-office. He supervises such finan- 
cial business of the department as is not devolved upon 
the Sixth Auditor of the Treasury, embracing accounts 
with draft-offices and with other depositories of the depart- 
ment, issues warrants and drafts in payment of balances 
due contractors, and inspects returns and balances of post- 
masters. He also issues stamps and stamped envelopes, 
and has charge of the Dead-Letter Office. 

4. The Superintendent of the Money-Order Sys- 
tem makes all the rules and regulations concerning the 
issuance of money orders and postal notes, and prepares 
and issues all the blanks for that system. 

6. The Assistant Attorney-General is a law-officer 
attached to this department to give advice concerning the 
construction of statutes, to dictate the forms of contracts, 
and to prosecute suits against contractors and others. 

6. The Foreign Service. The United States has 
postal treaties with nearly all the organized nations of the 
world, certainly with all the civilized nations, by which 
there are regular mail routes established between them and 
the United States for the transmission of mail for the citi- 
zens of all those countries. The rates of postage are con- 
siderably in excess of those charged upon mail nlatter in 
the United States, and are not the same with the several 
nations. 

7. The Money-Order System. By this' system, a 
person may deposit money in one post-office and have it 
paid to any one named at another post-office. The system 
is similar to that by which money is sent by bank-drafts. 
The charge for such service is very light, from three cents 
to twenty-five cents. The money orders are limited in 



164 ADMINISTRATIVE DEPARTMENT. 

amount to fifty dollars, and no person can obtain more 
than three orders in one day. A postal note is a similar 
device for sending money, and is restricted to sums less 
than five dollars, for which a charge of three cents must 
be paid. The postal note is drawn upon the post-office of 
a place named, or upon any office generally, and is payable 
to bearer. Unused money orders and postal notes can be 
cashed at the office where drawn. 

8. Letter Registry. A person may have a letter or 
other mail package registered for a fee of ten cents addi- 
tional to the regular postage thereon. Some security to 
valuable packages is added by this system, as the postal 
messenger receipts for all packages carried by him, and a 
lost package may be traced with some prospect that it can 
be found. Comparatively few registered packages are 
lost. 

9. Immediate Delivery. If the sender of a letter 
desires the letter delivered at once upon its arrival at the 
office of destination, he can attach to the letter an " imme- 
diate delivery stamp," costing ten cents, and it will be 
delivered by special messenger, within a mile of the post- 
office. This system is a recent one. It was tried, at first, 
at the larger offices, and has lately been extended to all 
the post-offices. 

10. The Dead-Letter Office is a device by which 
letters, not taken by those to whom sent, may be returned 
to the writers. In all offices, all letters unclaimed at the 
end of a week are advertised. If not then claimed at the 
end of four weeks, they are sent to the Dead-Letter Office 
at Washington. All letters put into a post-office, un- 
stamped, or not properly addressed, and unreclaimed, are 
sent to the same office. At the Dead-Letter Office, these 



ADINIINISTBATIVE DEPARTMENT. 165 

letters are opened by confidential clerks. Such of tliem 
as contain valuables, or are of such a nature as to make it 
desirable for their return to the writers, are so returned, 
at the expense of the department, if the writer's name and 
address can be ascertained from the letter. The office an- 
nually finds vast numbers of letters, containing valuables 
or money, and yet without signature or other clue so as to 
make a return possible. Even in such cases, efforts are 
always made to find the writers and to return the letters. 

11. Postage. The rates for postage in the United 
States are as follows : (a) On letters, or written matter 
sealed, two cents for one ounce or fraction thereof. (5) 
On printed matter issued regularly, mailed by the pub- 
lisher, one cent a pound, (c) On miscellaneous printed 
matter, one cent for two ounces or fraction thereof, (c?) 
On merchandise, not exceeding four pounds, one cent an 
ounce. Number (?>) is payable by cash, all the others by 
stamps affixed to the mail matter. 

The office of Postmaster-General has been filled by many 
men of national renown, among them Samuel Osgood, 
Timothy Pickering, Return J. Meigs, Amos Kendall, Jacob 
CoUamer, Joseph Holt. 



166 ADMINISTKATIVE DEPABTMEJSIT. 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

A DMINIS TRA TI VE DEPA R TMENT. — Continued. 
DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE. 

The head of this department is the Attorney-General. 
He is the law-adviser of the government. By law, he is 
made superintendent of the attorneys and marshals in all 
the judicial districts. He has three Assistant Attorney- 
Generals and a Solicitor-General, to aid him in the details 
of his duty. The business of this office may be classified 
as follows : — 

1. To GIVE OFFICIAL OPINIONS upon the current busi- 
ness of the government, whenever called for by the Presi- 
dent, by the head of any department, or by the Solicitor 
of the Treasury. 

2. To EXAMINE AND ADVISE concerning applications 
for pardons, reprieves, and commutations of sentence for 
offenses against the laws of the United States. 

3. To EXAMINE APPLICATIONS for appointment to judi- 
cial and law-offices. 

4. To EXAMINE TITLES to the lands purchased for gov- 
ernment business, and the bonds given by public officers. 

5. To CONDUCT AND MAKE ARGUMENTS in the Supreme 
Court of the United States, in all suits wherein the gov- 
ernment has any interest, and in other courts where the 
interests of the government is so important as to justify it. 



ADMINISTRATIVE DEPARTMENT. 167 

6. To ATTEND TO OTHER SUITS, arising in any depart- 
ment, when requested by the head of such department. 

Some of the most eminent lawyers of the nation have 
held the office of Attorney-General. Edmund Randolph 
was the appointee of Washington. Since then, the office 
has been filled by Judge Parsons, of Massachusetts, Cse- 
sar A. Rodney, William Pinckney, William Wirt, Felix 
Grundy, John J. Crittenden, Reverdy Johnson, Jeremiah 
S. Black, Caleb Gushing, William M. Evarts, Ebenezer R. 
Hoar, and others. 



168 MISCELLANEOUS. 



CHAPTER XIX. 

MISCELLANEOUS. 

^Naturalization. — An alien white person, an African, 
or person of African descent, may become a citizen of the 
United States. At any time after arrival, he must declare 
his intention to become a citizen and to renounce all for- 
mer allegiance to any other government, and swear to sup- 
port the constitution and laws of the United States, This 
must be done in writing before a clerk of a court having 
a seal. This declaration must be made at least two years 
before he can receive his final papers. After having re- 
sided in the United States five years, he may be admitted 
to full citizenship by appearing before a court of record, 
in public session, and formally renouncing allegiance to 
all other governments and taking the oath of allegiance to 
the United States. In order to be so admitted to full citi- 
zenship, he must be a man of good moral character, must 
be attached to our form of government, and must be well- 
disposed to good order and to the well-being of this gov- 
ernment. Such aliens of the above description as have 
an honorable discharge from the army or navy for service 
of one year may be admitted to full citizenship without 
any preliminary declaration of intention, and need not 
prove more than one year's residence. Aliens arriving 
here while under eighteen years of age may be admitted 
to full citizenship after five years' residence, without any 



MISCELLANEOUS. 169 

first papers. The widows and cliildren of sucli aliens as 
have taken out their first papers, and who died before 
being admitted to full citizenship, become full citizens 
without farther formality. Children under twenty-one 
years of age, of naturalized persons, become citizens with, 
their parents. No citizen, subject, or denizen of a coun- 
try with whom the United States may be at war can be 
admitted to citizenship, or even file his declaration of in- 
tention to become such. Persons who have made their 
declaration of intention to become citizens, and who serve 
three years thereafter in the merchant-marine of the United 
States, are admitted to citizenship without longer residence. 
In some of the states, aliens cannot vote until admitted t* 
full citizenship, and in other states they may vote at once 
after they have declared their intention to become citizens. 
Copyrights. — This is an exclusive privilege, reserved 
to any citizen or resident of the United States, to print, 
publish, and sell, any book, map, chart, engraving, painting, 
drawing, photograph, dramatic performance, or musical 
composition, of which he is the author, engraver, designer, 
inventor, or owner. Tlie object is to encourage authors 
and to furnish them the means of securing compensation 
for their work. This they could not secure if any one 
could reproduce and sell the products of their labor or 
of their genius without payment. A copyright carries the 
right of OAvnership, and may be bought and sold like other 
personal property. It must be conveyed by writing, a 
copy of which must be filed in the office of the Librarian 
of Congress. In order to obtain a copyright, a copy of 
the title of the publication must be sent to the Librarian of 
Congress before publication. Within ten days after pub- 
lication, two copies of the publication itself must be sent 



170 MISCELLANEOUS. 

to the Librarian of Congress. These two filings will cost 
one dollar. A copyright extends for twenty-eight years, 
and may be extended fourteen years longer. In order to 
secure the full right granted by the copyright, a notice, 
similar to that published on the fly-leaf of this volume, 
must be printed in, or on, every copy of the publication 
copyrighted. 

Smithsonian Institution. — In 1829, James Smithson, 
an Englishman, died. By his will, he bequeathed to the 
United States a sum amounting to 1515,169, for founding 
an institution for the "increase and diffusion of knowledge 
among men." In 1846, Congress accepted the bequest 
and incorporated the Smithsonian Institution. It is 
located at Washington, and is largely* under the direction 
of Congress. The incorporators were the President of the 
United States, the Secretaries of State, Treasury, War, 
and Navy, Postmaster-General, Attorney-General, the 
Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, 
the Mayor of the city of Washington, and the Commis- 
sioner of Patents. 

The immediate directors of the Institution are the Board 
of Regents, constituted as follows : the Vice-President of 
the United States, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, 
three members of each house of Congress, two unofficial 
residents of the city of Washington, and four other citizens 
of the United States, of which no two shall be citizens of 
the same state. The President of the Senate appoints 
the three senators who serve during their term of office 
as senators, and the Speaker appoints the three mem- 
bers of the House, who serve two years. The Chief Jus- 
tice is the chancellor and presiding officer of the Board of 
Reg-ents. 



MISCELLANEOUS. 171 

The Institution has received and has charge of all the 
government collections in mineralogy, geology, natural 
history, botany, and its specimens of the arts and of 
foreign and curious research. It receives contributions 
from other sources, also. These collections are said to 
constitute the largest and best series of minerals, fossils, 
rocks, animals, and plants of the entire continent of Amer- 
ica, in the world. The Institution issues publications 
devoted to scientific discoveries and discussion, contrib- 
uted by scientific men of America and of other countries. 

INTER-STATE COMMERCE. 

In 1887, in pursuance of the powers given by Art. L, 
section 8, sub. div. 3, of the Constitution, Congress passed 
the so-called Inter-State Commerce Law, and authorized 
the appointment of a commission thereunder. The com- 
mission consists of five persons appointed by the President 
and confirmed by the Senate. It is charged with the duty 
to administer and enforce the provisions of the law, and 
has authority to suspend some of its provisions for good 
cause. It collects information about the management, 
cost, expenses, earnings, debts, and other facts bearing 
upon railroads and other inter-state commercial agencies. 
One aim of the law seems to be to prevent discrimination 
for or against persons, towns, or cities, and to prohibit 
pools and other combinations among railroads. The 
phraseology of the law is not free from doiibt, and the 
scope and extent of the authority of the commission is not 
wholly clear. 

Section 1 of this law declares that "all charges shall be 
reasonable and just ; and every unjust and unreasonable 
charge is prohibited, and declared to be unlawful." 



172 MISCELLANEOUSo 

Section 2 defines an unjust discrimination, as the charg- 
ing any persons different amounts for a "like and con- 
temporaneous service in the transportation of a like kind 
of traffic under substantially similar circumstances and 
conditions." 

Section 3 declares it unlawful "to make or give any 
undue or unreasonable preference or advantage to any par- 
ticular person, company, firm, corporation, or locality, or 
any particular description of traffic, in any respect whatso- 
ever, or to subject any person, company, firm, corporation, 
or locality, or au}^ particular description of traffic, to any 
undue or unreasonable prejudice or disadvantage in any 
respect whatsoever." These three sections are, in effect, 
a declaration and enactment of the common law. 

The intent of the law is to do away with the many and 
manifest abuses that had grown up in connection with the 
carrjang trade of the country ; to secure to each shipper of 
goods all the rights and privileges had and enjoyed by any 
other ; to prevent favoritism being exercised among pas- 
sengers, whereby many were allowed to ride nominally 
free, but really at the expense of the paying passengers. 
Also to put an end to the injustice by which goods were 
carried long distances to favored competing points, or for 
a favored shipper, for the same or even a less sum than 
they would be carried but a moderate fraction of the dis- 
tance to a non-competing point, or for a shipper not 
favored. To do away with the whole system of rebates 
which favored some shippers at the expense of. others, thus 
enabling them to undersell in the market, and gradually 
but surely to drive out all competition. 

It may not be within the power of this or any other law 
to wholly prevent the building up of monopolies, and to 



MISCELLANEOUS. 173 

block the way of the speculative and unscrupulous to 
undue advantages; but its aim and tendency are toward 
free competition, and a fair and just tariff of charges for 
services rendered, without respect to person or place. 

The enforced j^ublicity of the tariff of charges is a long 
stride toward equality of payments. Growing as the law 
did out of undoubted abuses of power ob the part of trans- 
portation companies, the restrictions upon their unlimited 
power were required in the public interest. It became 
necessary that public authority should proclaim and en- 
force the rule of equal treatment as a fundamental doc- 
trine. 

Publicity of tariffs, and openness of agreements between 
the companies and all shippers, will tend to make secure 
uniformity of rates and of treatment. Public accounta- 
bility is strongly conducive to strict impartiality, while it 
is also a foe to duplicity and favoritism. The responsi- 
bility of the companies to a public tribunal is promotive 
of a healthy public opinion, and conducive to much-needed 
reforms. 



174 JUDICIAL DEPARTMENT. 



CHAPTER XX. 

JUDICIAL DEPARTMENT. 

The student may have already learned, in the study of 
state governments, the need of a judicial department. 
There could be no good government without it. It may 
be called the balance-wheel, or regulator, of the govern- 
ment. The constitution provides for such a department 
for the national government. 

I. The Supreme Court. — The constitution names 
and establishes this court and authorizes Congress to add 
such other, and inferior, courts as may be needed. The 
Supreme Court consists of a Chief Justice and eight Asso- 
ciate Justices. 

Jurisdiction. This court has original jurisdiction in 
all cases that affect ambassadors, and other public ministers 
and consuls, whether they are in the service of the United 
States or of any other government, and in cases in which 
any state may be a party. In all other cases, suits must 
be begun in one of the inferior courts, and be brought to 
this court, by appeal, or by one of the other methods 
provided by law. Suits, in the state courts, involving a 
construction of the constitution of the United States, or 
of any of the laws or treaties made thereunder, may be 
appealed to this court. 

II. Circuit Courts. — The whole of the United States 
is divided into nine circuits. In each circuit, one of the 
Justices of the Supreme Court holds court, and is assisted 



JUDICIAL DEPARTMENT. 175 

by a judge, appointed by the President, and called a Cir- 
cuit Judge. In fact, the Circuit Judge does most of the 
business in this court. 

Jurisdiction. This court has original jurisdiction in 
civil suits wherein the amount of property involved is five 
hundred dollars, or more, and in all cases of crime against 
the United States. It has appellate jurisdiction in all civil 
cases, involving five hundred dollars or more, tried in the 
District Court. 

III. District Court. — Each circuit is divided into a 
number of districts, so that each state shall constitute at 
least one district, and the larger states comprise two oi- 
more districts. In each district is a judge, aj^pointed by 
the President, and called a District Judge. He presides 
in the District Court, alone or with the Circuit Judge. 

Jurisdiction. The District Court has jurisdiction in 
all cases, civil or criminal, not required to be brought in 
the higher courts. 

Any Justice of the Supreme Court, in his circuit, and 
any Circuit Judge, in his circuit, may sit at the trial of ^any 
cause, in any court inferior to his own, alone or with the 
inferior judge, and may render judgment in the same 
manner and with the same effect, as may be done by the 
judge of that court. The District Judge may sit in the 
Circuit Court, in his district, and try causes, in the absence 
of the Circuit Judge. All the judges are authorized to 
exchange with one another when needful. There are nine 
judges of the Supreme Court, nine Circuit Judges, and 
fifty-six District Judges. 

IV. Supreme Court of the District of Columbia. — 
This court consists of a Chief Justice and five Associate 
Justices. It has about the jurisdiction of the District 



176 JUDICIAL DEPARTMENT, 

Courts of the United States, but the causes of action must 
arise in the District of Columbia. Appeals are taken from 
this court to the Supreme Court of the United States. 

V. Court of Claims. — This court is established at 
Washington, and is constituted with a Chief Justice and 
four Associate Justices. It has jurisdiction to hear and 
determine claims against the United States. It does not 
hear all claims against the government ; but such claims, 
only, as have some foundation of law to rest on. Claims, 
founded upon any law of Congress, or upon any regular 
order of the President, or of the head of one of the depart- 
ments, or upon any contract with the government, if the 
officer making the contract had any authority to make it, 
may be presented to this court and heard. Congress often 
refers to this court, for decision upon disputed facts, the 
claims of paymasters, quartermasters, and other disbursing 
officers, as well as other claimants where the grounds of 
relief are not free from doubt. Congress usually makes 
an appropriation to pay the awards rendered by this 
court. 

VI. Territorial Courts. — Each territor}^ is provided 
with a court, consisting of a Chief Justice and two Asso- 
ciate Justices, appointed by the President. The jurisdic- 
tion of the territorial courts extends to cases arising 
within the territory, under the laws of Congress and of 
the territories, and appeals are taken to the Supreme 
Court. 

VII. Officers of the Courts. — ■ The Attorney-General 
is the official representative of the government before the 
Supreme Court. He is usually represented by one of his 
assistants. This court has a clerk "to record its proceed- 
ings, and' a reporter to publish its decisions. Each .Circuit 



JUDICIAL DEPARTMENT. 177 

Court has a clerk to keep the record of the business done. 
These courts have no authorized reporter. Decisions of 
these courts are pubhshed, either by the judge who 
renders them, or by some attorney of the court under the 
judge's sanction. Each district also has a clerk, and 
decisions are published in the same manner as by circuit 
courts. In each district there is a District Attorney, 
appointed by the President. He is to represent the 
government in all criminal prosecutions, and in all circuit 
cases in which the United States has an interest. 

This court has a marshal, also, who enforces the decrees, 
or judgments of the court, and performs services similar to 
those performed by sheriffs in state courts. The District 
Attorney and Marshal act for the Circuit Court within 
and for their district. Each Territorial Court, and the 
Court of the District of Columbia, also, has a district 
attorney, marshal, and clerk. All these courts, except 
the Supreme Court, the Court of the District of Columbia, 
and the Court of Claims, have grand juries and trial juries, 
who perform duties the same as those of state courts, of 
which the student maj^ have already learned. 

VIII. Terms of Service. — The judges of all the 
courts are appointed by the President, and confirmed by 
the Senate. They hold their offices during life, unless 
they resign, or are dismissed by impeachment ; except 
territorial judges, who serve four years unless sooner re- 
moved. It is thought that judges who hold by so firm a 
tenure as that will be more independent in the discharge 
of their duties, will be more disposed to hold to the law 
and to the right, without regard to public opinion or to 
the pressure of politicians ; whereas, judges elected, or 
appointed for short terms, will be liable to try to please 



1T8 JUDICIAL DEPARTMENT. 

the appointing power, and will be less independent. For 
the same reason, the constitution provides that their 
salaries cannot be diminished during their terms of ser- 
vice. Thus, they have no reason to fear popular clamor 
or any displeasure of Congress. The District Attorney 
and Marshal are appointed by the President and Senate, 
and they hold their offices for four years, but may be re- 
moved at any time by the President. The clerks are ap- 
pointed by the judges, and hold their offices during the 
pleasure of the judges. 

IX. Trials. — The methods of trials in the courts do 
not differ greatly from what the student may have already 
learned on this subject. The methods used in the state 
courts are the same, substantially, as those used by the 
courts of the United States. The fifth amendment to 
the constitution provides for indictment by a grand jury 
in all criminal cases. The process of selecting the grand 
jury is somewhat different from that emplo3^ed for obtain- 
ing the grand juries of state courts, but the duties of the 
two bodies are the same. Article III. of the constitu- 
tion provides that the trial in all criminal cases shall be 
by a jury, except in cases of impeachment. This excep- 
tion is practically extended to such violations of the ar- 
ticles of war, adopted by Congress for the government of 
the army and navy, as amount to crimes. Such crimes 
are tried by courts-martial, composed of officers of the 
service. 



JUDICIAL DEPARTMENT, 179 



id 



CHAPTER XXI. 

JUDICIAL DEPARTMENT.— Continued. 

X. Jurisdiction of United States Courts. — The word 
"jurisdiction" lias been used frequently, and it is time to 
define it. It is formed from two Latin words, "jus," a 
right, and " dictio," a speaking. Together they mean a 
speaking by right, or the right of speaking. When a 
plied to courts, the new word means a right to hear an 
to decide a case. Courts do not have a right to hear and 
to decide any suit that may be brought to them. The busi- 
ness of courts would be much mixed up if they had that 
right. There is as much need for order and system in the 
practice of courts, as in the proceedings of Congress or in 
conducting a business enterprise. For this reason some 
courts are authorized to try petty cases only, small cases, 
such as under a state government may be tried by a justice 
of the peace. Some courts cannot hear suits relating to 
some subjects, as, in the states, probate matters are con- 
fined to one class of courts, and some of the courts cannot 
try cases involving title to real estate. Other courts can 
entertain such suits only as arise under certain laws. 
State courts can have power to try such suits only as arise 
or grow out of the constitution and laws of that state. 
So the courts of the United States should be, and are, 
authorized to try such suits only as arise or grow out of 
the constitution, laws, and treaties of the United States ; 
they can try such suits only as the constitution permits 



180 JUDICIAL DEPARTMENT. 

them to try. There are nine classes of cases which the 
constitution directs the courts of the United States to 
entertain. 

1. All cases, in law or equity, arising under the consti- 
tution, the laws of the United States, or of treaties made 
under their authority. If the laws are passed, and the 
treaties are made, under the authority of the constitution, 
then all cases arising under those laws and treaties arise 
under the constitution. Whenever the proper construc- 
tion or interpretation of any part of the constitution, or of 
any law, of the United States, or treaty between the United 
States and a foreign nation, can be called for, or is needed, 
in a suit, that suit arises under the constitution, laws, or 
treaty of the United States, and can be brought in the 
courts of the United States. 

If such suit should be brought in a state court, it can 
be transferred to the courts of the United States, as 
soon as that fact appears to the court. It would not be 
wise for the general government to permit the state 
courts to decide upon the meaning of the constitution 
or laws or treaties of the United States. A sovereign 
nation must be its own judge of its duties. It must not 
submit the interpretation of its own laws to the arbi- 
tration of any other power. Besides, all such construction 
or interpretation as determines the meaning of the consti- 
tution, laws, or treaties of the United States should be uni- 
form, and be based upon the same principles. This can be 
only when one court gives the construction. It is not pos- 
sible to suppose that the supreme courts of thirty-eight dif- 
ferent states, many of them with directly opposite interests, 
could agree, independently, upon the same construction of 
the laws or constitution of the United States. It is cer- 



JUDICIAL DEPAETMENT. 181 

tain that tliey would not agree. People guide their ac- 
tions so as to conform with the law of the land in which 
they reside, and the decisions of the courts have the force 
and effect of law. With different constructions of a law, 
given by courts in different parts of the country, people 
would be at a loss to know how to act. The constitution 
and laws of each state are construed by the supreme 
court of that state for the guidance of the citizens of that 
state, and of all interested ; and the constitution, laws, 
and treaties of the United States are construed by the 
Supreme Court of the United States for the guidance of 
its citizens, and of all interested in them. 

2. Ambassadors, other public ministers, and consuls 
are accredited by one nation to another, and are, by usage, 
if not by treaty, placed under the protection of the gov- 
ernment to which they are sent. For this reason, the 
courts of the United States must have exclusive jurisdic- 
tion over all suits in which such persons are interested. 
The words of the constitution apply to all officers, whether 
in the service of the United States or of a foreign country 
accredited to the United States. 

3. European nations bordering upon the ocean or the 
great seas have always had courts that had exclusive 
jurisdiction of suits arising from ships and seamen. As 
ships of war, in England, were under the command of an 
admiral, the courts that tried suits arising from war-ships 
were called courts of admiralty, and the courts that tried 
suits arising from merchant-ships were called maritime 
courts. As we have seen heretofore, the boundaries of 
states stop at the- edge of the ocean, as do also their juris- 
diction, while the boundaries and jurisdiction of the United 
States extend far into the water. Thus, all ships, even 



182 JUDICIAL DEPAETMENT. 

though belonging to citizens of states, or of foreign nations, 
while near the coast, on the ocean, or " high seas," as it is 
often called, are within the power of the United States, 
and the courts of the nation are given exclusive jurisdic- 
tion over them and over any property which they may 
contain. 

4. As a sovereign nation cannot permit another nation 
to determine its duties for it, nor to construe its laws, so 
it cannot permit an inferior or subordinate power to do 
so. The states are inferior, and, in great measure, subor- 
dinate, to the United States, and the courts of the states 
should not be allowed to sit in judgment upon the interests 
of the nation. All cases, therefore, in which the nation 
has any interest, must be tried in the United States courts. 

5. When two nations, equal in authority and dignity, 
disagree, neither one should have the right to settle the 
disagreement ; the matter of disagreement should be, and 
usually is, left to the decision of some third power, sup- 
posed to be friendly to both. So, when two states are 
involved in a suit, the courts of neither one should have 
the right to decide. As both states are equal in authority 
and dignity, and as the United States is supposed to be 
equally friendly and impartial to both, there is reason in 
the provision of the constitution by which the courts of 
the nation take jurisdiction and decide. 

6. For the same reason, as stated in the fifth paragraph 
above, the courts of the United States decide all cases 
between states and citizens of other states. The words 
of the constitution, as originally adopted, were construed 
by the Supreme Court to mean that a citizen of one state 
could sue a state in the United States courts. As this 
construction was inconsistent with that (even restricted^ 



JUDICIAL DEPARTMENT. 183 

grade of sovereignty claimed by tiie states, an amend- 
ment was adopted in 1798 (Art. II), prohibiting suits of 
that nature. 

7. For reasons stated above in the last two paragraphs, 
suits between citizens of two states are tried in the courts 
of the United States. 

8. Before the adoption of the constitution, several col- 
onies had made grants of land lying in the districts 
claimed by other colonies. In some instances, the same 
land was granted by two colonies to different persons. It 
was thought very probable that the courts of the states 
making the grants would sustain the action of their states, 
which might result in serious complications ' of titled. 
The constitution, therefore, wisely provides that in cases 
of such double grants, the courts of the United s States 
shall have exclusive jurisdiction, even though all the 
parties interested reside in one state. 

9. Following out the reasons stated in the last four 
paragraphs, the constitution provides that in all cases 
between states, or citizens thereof, on the one side, and 
any foreign state or any citizens or subject thereof, on 
the other side, the courts of the United States shall have 
jurisdiction. 

XI. Territorial Jiirisdiction. — The courts of the sev- 
eral territories have jurisdiction to try all cases that arise 
within the territory under the laws of their respective 
territories, as well as in the other cases mentioned in the 
list treated of above. In the District of Columbia, the 
court of that district has jurisdiction of such cases only 
as arise within the district. The District Courts are con- 
fined, in their jurisdiction, to cases arising within the 
limits of their districts. For instance, in the district of 



184 JUDICIAL DEPARTMENT. 

Rhode Island, all cases that arise in that state must be 
tried in the District Court of Rhode Island. In Iowa, 
cases arising in the southern half of the state must be 
tried in the District Court of the southern district of 
Iowa, and those arising in the .northern part of the state 
must be tried in the District Court of the northern dis- 
trict of Iowa. The Circuit Court cannot have jurisdiction 
of any case that arises outside the limits of its circuit. 

So, appeals from a District Court to a Circuit Court are 
taken to that court in whose circuit the District Court is 
situated. All this is the positive command of the consti- 
tution, with respect to trials for crimes. The laws of 
Congress apply the rule to civil cases. It is best that all 
cases should be tried as near as possible to the place 
where they arise, so as to avoid the expense of taking 
witnesses and parties great distances. In criminal trials 
it is especially important, for the accused ought to be tried 
in a locality where he may haye friends to help him, and 
where his witnesses can be secured without great expense. 
It has already been shown that this is a right guarantied 
by the constitution. In each district a town or city is des- 
ignated by lav\^ for the sessions of the District and Cir- 
cuit Courts for that district. There the court records are 
kept, in a building usually erected by the government. 

XII. Iiiipeachinent. — The trial by impeachment is a 
judicial act, although it is performed by the legislative 
branch of the government. The constitution declares that 
the President, Vice-President, and all the civil officers of 
the United States shall be removed from office by im- 
peachment for, and conviction of, treason, bribery, or 
other high crimes and misdemeanors. The members of 
Congress are not included in the list of civil officers; they 



JUDICIAL DEPARTMENT. 185 

can be removed from office only by the vote of two-thirds 
of the house to which each belongs. The "high crimes 
and misdemeanors " of which a civil officer may be con- 
victed by impeachment includes all the more serious of- 
fenses named in the list of crimes ; misdemeanors are the 
terms by which the less serious offenses are known. In 
addition to these may also be reckoned offenses of such a 
nature as make them unfit for the discharge of the duties 
of their offices : some of these are political, and some are 
moral. There is no rule declaring what is, and what is 
not, an impeachable offense. 

Impeachment, The House of Representatives ii^ 
peaches, and the Senate conducts the trial. The methods 
and proceedings in impeachment are usually as follows : 
A member of the House introduces a resolution which 
declares that such an officer, naming him, ought to be 
impeached and tried for crimes which the resolution speci- 
fies in general terms or in detail. Or, a resolution may, 
in like manner, be introduced, instructing a committee 
named to examine and to report if such an officer should 
not be impeached and tried for crimes named. In either 
case, if the House agrees to the resolution, it is sent to a 
committee, usually to the Judiciary Committee. The com- 
mittee makes an examination of the facts and of the law, 
and if it finds a cause for impeachment, it so reports to the 
House, at the same time presenting articles of impeach- 
ment against the officer. These articles set out fully, very 
much after the manner of an indictment in a court of law, 
all the details of time, place, and other circumstances of 
the offense. If these articles are adopted by the House, 
they are sent to the Senate. This body then resolves 
itself into a Court of Impeachment, and summons the 



186 JUDICIAL DEPAETMENT, 

officer named to appear and to plead to the articles. The 
articles are presented by a committee selected by the 
House, and called Managers, who conduct the prosecution 
on behalf of the House. 

The tkial is conducted very much like an ordinary 
law-suit. The Senate is the judge at the same time that 
it is the jury. When the President is on trial, the Chief 
Justice of the Supreme Court presides. In other trials, 
the ordinary presiding officer of the Senate acts. Testi- 
mony is taken on both sides if desired, and addresses are 
made by the managers and by the attorneys for the de- 
fendant officer. The senators give their votes, with or 
without a statement of their reasons. Their reasons may 
be given orally or in writing. Two-thirds of all the mem- 
bers of the Senate must vote for conviction in order to 
convict. 

The judgment of conviction cannot extend beyond 
removal from office, and a disqualification to hold any 
office of honor, trust, or profit, under the constitution for- 
ever. The President has no power to pardon, reprieve, 
or commute the sentence. If the crime for which the 
officer is impeached is also a crime against the ordinary 
law of the land, he is still liable to be tried and convicted 
as an ordinar}^ criminal for the offense, whether he is con- 
victed or not on the articles of impeachment. 



RELATIONS OF THE STATES. 187 



CHAPTER XXII. 

RELATIONS OF THE STATES. 

Inside its own territory, the state authority is supreme. 
The state government provides for the organization of 
counties, cities, and school districts, and it may repeal 
such provisions and make new ones at its pleasure. All 
the machinery for the government of the states is the ere* 
ation of the people of the whole state, acting as a unit. 
The state must exist before the counties and other sub- 
divisions of a state can exist. Neither towns, cities, nor 
counties have any riglits of self-government except what 
are given to them by the constitution or by the laws, and 
such rights may be withdrawn by the state. The organ- 
ization of the national government is upon a different plan. 
Before the formation of the constitution, there were thir- 
teen colonies, each independent of each other, each pos- 
sessing a right to self-government in all respects. The 
Articles of Confederation professed to place some restric- 
tions upon these rights, but such restrictions existed only 
on paper. Upon the formation of the constitution, there 
was reserved to the states then forming the new nation, 
and to other states that might thereafter come into the 
union, a portion of the rights which each of the colonies 
had possessed. These rights, so reserved, were, as we have 
seen, such as relate to local affairs. The wider affairs, 
dealing with foreign nations, providing for, and attending 
to, the common welfare, were given into the keeping of 



188 RELATIONS OF THE STATES. 

the national government. Nearly all the rights reserved 
to the states, and nearly all the authority granted to the 
general government, are enumerated in the constitution. 
We have found that certain authority was given to Con- 
gress, and certain power prohibited. In our farther study 
of the form of the government, we shall find that there 
are prohibitions upon the states and prohibitions upon the 
general government. The result of all the provisions of 
the constitution is that the general government is inde- 
pendent and supreme in all the relations of the nation 
with other nations, and in all matters that affect the peo- 
ple of two or more states or of all the states equally, with 
power to decide upon the extent of its own authority and 
to enforce its own decisions. Inside this general govern- 
ment are thirty-eight smaller governments, independent of 
each other, and of the general government in all matters 
of reserved rights in local affairs. The extent and limita- 
tions of this independence are largely within the determina- 
tion of the general government. It will be seen, hereafter, 
that two-thirds of the states may change the character and 
extent of this independence, at pleasure, except in one 
particular. In that one respect, it requires the unanimous 
assent of all the states. 

Proliibitions upon the States. — As we have seen that 
all powers not granted to the United States, nor expressly 
prohibited to the states, are reserved to the states or to the 
people thereof, we come now to consider the powers that 
are expressly prohibited to the states. 

1. Alliance. By the terms of the constitution, no 
state can enter into any treaty, alliance, or confederation. 
In another portion of the constitution, the power to make 
treaties is conferred upon the President and the Senate. 



RELATIONS OF THE STATES. 189 

A treaty is an agreement between two independent states 
concerning any matter that affects them both, — usually 
applied to those matters of mutual interest touching trade 
or the intercourse of citizens. An alliance is a contract 
to act together, in case of war, or of threats of war. A 
confederation is a union of two or more governments in 
such manner that all act together under one government, 
yet retaining separate sovereignty over some matters as 
agreed upon. These are powers that could not be per- 
mitted to the states with safety to the nation. The theory 
of the government is that the nation is supreme, and to 
which the states, as organizations, are subordinate. Th^ 
■power to make treaties and alliances has already been con- 
ferred upon the national government, and this is a power 
that could not be granted at the same time to the states. 
There would be danger that the treaties and alliances 
might conflict one with another. There can be but one 
supreme power in a government. Besides, the treaties 
and alliances which the individual states might make 
would naturally be such as would be for the apparent 
interest of the people of the states making them, at the 
same time that they might be adverse to the interests of 
the people of other states, and of the whole nation at 
large. The student can see that such a state of affairs 
would not be endurable. 

But this prohibition goes beyond a denial of the right 
of a state to make a treaty, alliance, or confederation with 
foreign powers. It is also a prohibition upon their power 
to make treaties, alliances, and confederations with one 
another or among themselves. Under the terms of the 
constitution, and the peculiar organization of the general 
government, there could be no oppression of any state, or 



190 RELATIONS OF THE STATES. 

class of states, except by an alliance of other states. The 
general government looks after the interests of all. There 
would be no necessity for an alliance of any of the states 
for protection against the others or against the United 
States government. It would be manifestly improper for 
states to form alliances against one another when the 
interests of all should be identical. The government could 
not exist if alliances were allowed to be formed against 
the general government. The framers of the constitution 
thought that occasions might arise Which would render this 
prohibition upon the states undesirable. The same article 
empowers Congress to remove the restriction, and to per- 
mit such alliances. Whether Congress could, by general 
laws, abrogate this constitutional provision so as to allow 
unlimited permission to the states in this matter, may well 
be doubted. It is more probable that each case of such 
alliance would have to be presented to Congress, accom- 
panied by a full statement of the reasons making its con- 
sent proper. No such consent has ever been given so far 
in the history of the nation. [Art. I., sec. 10.] 

2. War. In considering the powers given to Congress, 
we have found that the constitution confers upon Con- 
gress the power to declare war, to issue letters of marque 
and reprisal, to raise and support armies, to create and 
maintain navies, to organize and call forth the militia, and 
to make all the rules and regulations needed for the gov- 
ernment of the armies and navies, for disciplining and 
arming the militia, and for disposing of the captures by 
land and water. All these powers belong to the war- 
making power. They must belong exclusively to one 
department of a government. If they belong to the 
national government, they must be withheld from the state 



RELATIONS OF THE STATES. 191 

governments. The power to make war, and to do the 
other acts leading to war, are expressly prohibited to the 
states. Under certain circumstances, and with certain 
conditions, the constitution allows states to keep troops 
and ships of war in time of peace, and to engage in war. 
To these Congress may give its consent. It might happen 
that a border state might be so menaced by an unfriendly 
neighboring power that its safety and peace would be 
increased by the formation of an army from its own militia, 
in such manner as to be less expensive than the keeping 
of a standing army by the nation upon its frontier. The 
consent of Congress to that state of affairs is allowed by 
the constitution. If actually invaded, or if in such dan- 
ger of attack by a foreign power as would make delay 
dangerous, a state has the right to engage in war. As 
soon as the danger is passed, or as soon as the general gov- 
ernment has time to bring its army to the defense of the 
state attacked, the state troops will then be withdrawn, or 
be held in service under the command of the nation. 
[Art. I., sec. 10.] 



192 DELATIONS OF THE STATES. 



CHAPTER XXIII. 

RELATIONS OF THE STATES. — Continued. 

3. Money. The states cannot emit bills of credit. 
These are notes intended to be used as money. The 
" greenbacks," issued by the national government, are 
bills of credit as meant by the constitution. This authority 
is given to Congress. If each state should be allowed to 
issue these bills at pleasure, there could be little, if any, 
security that the amount would not exceed the demands 
of business. The power to issue these bills is an impor- 
tant power, and its exercise has great influence upon all 
departments of business, and the authority to issue them 
should be confined to one department. For the same 
reason, too, the states may not compel the citizens to 
receive, as money, anything but gold or silver. The 
business of the United States is so intimately connected, 
organized upon the theory that the United States is one 
nation, and that the states are but parts thereof, that there 
cou.ld be no regularity in that business if the currency 
should be based upon different values in different states. 
In one state, whose credit was good, a paper dollar might 
be worth its face value ; in another state, whose credit 
was not good, the paper dollar might be worth but fifty 
cents. Such irregularity in currency would seriously affect 
business. If we are one people, we must have but one 
currency, and that must be based upon actual values, and 
all be regulated by one central authority. [Art. I., sec. 10.] 



RELATIONS OF THE STATES. 193 

4. Impairing Contracts. In treating the Bill of 
Rights, we have seen that neither the government of the 
United States nor of any of the states can pass a bill of 
attainder, or an ex post facto law. There is a farther pro- 
vision, in favor of justice, that no state can pass any law 
impairing the obligation of a contract. A contract is an 
agreement to do or not to do a thing named. The obliga- 
tion of a contract is understood to be that duty of per- 
forming it which is recognized and enforced by the law. 
If the laws can be changed after a contract is made, so as 
to release one of the parties to the contract from the duty 
of performing his part of the agreement, the obligation of 
that contract is impaired. A law is plainly unjust thife 
would deprive a contractor of the right to enforce it, or 
that would so change the remedy as to make the right 
worthless. When a contract is made between A and 
B, the property then occupied by A, as a homestead, is 
liable to be taken for the payment of his debts, under 
the law, and he has no other property. Afterwards, and 
before the maturity of the contract, the law is changed 
so that the property occupied by A would not be liable 
for such a debt as that contract would create. If that 
law could be applied to the contract between A and B, 
and then deprive B of any probability of collecting his 
debt from A, that would be a law impairing the obliga- 
tion of a contract. It would be, also, an ex post facto 
law, as well as a very unjust law. It would not be 
often that a legislature would intentionally pass a law im- 
pairing the obligation of a contract, but laws are often 
drawn very carelessly and have a meaning not contem- 
plated by the legislature. Courts construe laws by the 
usual meaning of the words, and not by the intended 



194 RELATIONS OF THE STATES. 

meaning. Most of the states have a constitutional pro- 
vision of the same character as this prohibition, and their 
own courts would declare any such law void. [Art. I., 
sec. 10.] 

5. Nobility. It has already been shown that the 
United States cannot grant titles of nobility (page 116). 
There is more reason why the states should be deprived 
of that power. Titles of nobility create classes, or distinc- 
tions of rank, based on other foundations than that of 
merit or character. Such distinctions of classes create an 
aristocracy, which is inconsistent with a republican form 
of government, wherein all the citizens have equal rights 
and privileges under the laws. [Art. I., sec. 9.] 

6. Taxes and Duties. The power to levy impost 
duties has been given to Congress, and the revenue col- 
lected from importations is expended for the benefit of all 
the people of the nation. But the importations enter at 
a very few ports. If each state was allowed to levy a 
duty upon all goods entering that state, and to apply the 
revenue so derived to its own benefit, a few states would 
receive most of the benefit from such importations. These 
inequalities could not be satisfactory to the people of the 
other states, and would not be just. Besides, such a con- 
dition of affairs would create rivalry among the states, and 
cause a decrease in the rates of duty, and also compel the 
levy of a duty on goods brought from one state into 
another. Such duties, in a nation, ought to be uniform, 
and ought to be collected by the general government for 
the benefit of the Avhole nation. 

But the people of each state are especially interested in 
the sanitary condition of its ports, more interested than 
the people of other states in keeping out unheaithful 



KBLATIONS OF THE STATES. 195 

goods and unhealthy people. For the purpose of attend- 
ing to these matters, the constitution gives to the states 
power to make and to enforce rules and regulations for 
the inspection of vessels, immigrants, and goods enter- 
ing its ports, and to impose the payment of such fees 
as shall pay the expenses of such inspection. In order 
that the states may not use this privilege as a cover 
for raising revenue, all the surplus, if any remains after 
paying the costs of such inspection, must be paid to the 
United States, and Congress may revise and control all 
such rules and regulations. A fee collected from vessels 
for paying the cost of keeping the wharves, harbors, and 
channels in order is called a tonnage duty. Vessels ^ay 
this duty in proportion to their carrying capacity. States 
may levy a tonnage duty for the purpose named under 
the revisory power of Congress, but not otherwise. [Art. I., 
sec. 10.] 

7. Fugitive Slaves. The third clause in the second 
section of Article IV. is not of much value now. It was 
inserted for the benefit of those states whose citizens held 
slaves. It was a prohibition upon the several states, re- 
straining them from making any regulation, by which 
slaves, escaping from their masters, and fleeing into other 
states, should be made free. During the fierce discussions 
concerning the subject of slavery, in later years, several 
of the states did pass laws intended to obstruct the slave- 
holders in their efforts to recapture their fugitive slaves. 
However commendable those regulations were, viewed in 
the light of humane and moral ideas, they were plainly 
violations of the prohibitions of this section of the consti- 
tution. Now that slavery has been abolished in all the 
states, this prohibition has no farther use, and has no 



196 RELATIONS OF THE STATES^ 

farther interest to any one but to the student of history 
and of constitutional law. 

8. Civil and Personal Rights. The fourteenth 
amendment prohibits the states making or enforcing any 
law which shall abridge the privileges of citizens of the 
United States, or depriving any person of life, liberty, or 
property, or denying to any person within its jurisdiction 
the equal protection of the laws. This section was adopted 
in 1868, and was designed to remedy a serious evil. The 
war of 1861-65 was over, and the slaves formerly held had 
been emancipated. The white people of those states, how- 
ever, did not confer upon the liberated blacks any of the 
rights of citizenship. Under the laws of those states, as 
tliey existed before the war, the blacks were not citizens 
nor entitled to any rights of citizens. But this amend- 
ment confers citizenship upon all such persons, white 
and black alike. 

The states are then forbidden by law to abridge any of 
the rights of citizenship, or to permit any person to be 
deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process 
of law, or to refuse the equal protection of the law to all 
persons within its borders. This prohibition is very broad 
and very strict, more so than is generally considered. 
When the state authorities know that the local authori- 
ties and the courts discriminate ^between citizens in the 
enforcement of the laws, — holding foreign-born citizens 
by a rule, stricter than, or different from, the rule by 
which native-born citizens are held, or punishing blacks 
for acts for which its white citizens are not punished, or 
inflicting upon the blacks heavier penalties than they visit 
upon whites for identical crimes, — that state manifestly 
violates this article of the constitution. 



RELATIONS OF THE STATES. 197 

9. Civil Rights. The United States courts have held 
that the first section of the fourteenth amendment did not 
confer upon the liberated blacks a right to vote, nor pro- 
hibit the states denying to them the right. To remedy 
the defect of the fourteenth amendment, the fifteenth 
amendment was adopted, providing that no state shall 
deny or abridge the right of its citizens to vote, on ac- 
count of race, color, or previous condition of servitude. 

A prohibition upon the power of a state to do any act, 
in the nature of things must be a prohibition upon the 
power of the citizens of that state to do that particular 
act. Whatever the state permits its citizens to do^it 
itself does, under the well-known rules of the common 
law and of reason. A state is but the organized form by 
which the people act ; the people themselves really consti- 
tute the state ; so that, whatever is done by the people 
in a state, must be held to be done by the state. 



198 RELATIONS OF THE STATES. 



CHAPTER XXIV. 

RELATIONS OF THE STATES.— Continued. 

1. Proliibitioiis upon the United States. — In the 

treatment of the Bill of Rights, the meaning and extent 
of the prohibitions concerning habeas corpus., bills of attain- 
der, and ex post facto laws have been shown. The United 
States, whether acting through the legislative, administra- 
tive, or judicial departments, are prohibited suspending or 
denying the writ of habeas corpus, and Congress is pro- 
hibited passing bills of the nature of the other two. The 
prohibition applies to the whole government, so far as it 
is applicable. [Art. I., sec. 9.] 

2. In the first article of the constitution, it is provided 
that direct taxes shall be apportioned among the states in 
proportion to the number of its inhabitants, obtained as 
follows : Indians not taxed are not to be counted : all free 
persons are counted, and also three-fifths of all other per- 
sons. These " other persons " were slaves. In the con- 
stitutional convention, the delegates from the free states 
desired that the slaves should not be counted in making 
the apportionment of members of Congress and of taxes, 
and the delegates from the slave states wanted the slaves 
counted in full. The matter was compromised by count- 
ing a slave as three-fifths of a person, for both purposes. 
Since the liberation of the slaves, the phrase, " three-fifths 
of all other persons," has no force. A direct tax is a tax 
levied upon property or upon an individual ; if levied 



RELATIONS OF THE STATES. 199 

upon an individual, it is called a capitation tax. The 
amount of money desired to be raised by the general gov- 
ernment by this tax is first ascertained, and that amount 
is apportioned to the several states in proportion to their 
population, as stated above. This makes the direct taxes, 
levied by the general government, in reality capitation 
taxes. After the levy, each state collects its proportion, 
in its own way, and is responsible to the general govern- 
ment for its proportion. Sub-section four of section 
nine. Article I., j^rohibits the levy of a " capitation or 
other direct tax," in any other manner. 

3. It has already been shown that Congress is forbidden 
to levy or collect any export duty or to give any prefer- 
ence to the ports of any state in its regulation of trade, 
domestic Or foreign. [Art. I., sec. 9.] 

4. No money can be drawn from the treasury of the 
United States except in consequence of an appropriation 
made by law. The money for the expenses of the govern- 
ment, regular and extraordinary, is appropriated by Con- 
gress in a general law. The amount to be expended by 
each department, and sometimes by each officer of a de- 
partment, and the amounts for special objects, are named 
in the law. No department and no officer, not even the 
President, can use any money for any purpose not speci- 
fied in the law ; and cannot use any more money for any 
purpose than the law names. This appropriation of money 
is a legislative act, is the making of a law ; it belongs to 
Congress as the immediate representatives of the people. 
This guard upon the treasury is derived from the custom 
of England, in which all money for the government's use 
must be determined by the House of Commons. [Art. I., 
sec. 9.1 



200 RELATIONS OF THE STATES. 

5. No title of nobility can be granted by the United 
States, and we have already seen that the same prohibition 
rests upon the states (page 194). It is further provided 
that no person holding an office of profit or trust under 
the United States shall receive any present, emolument, 
office, or title of any kind from any foreign king, prince, 
or government. This last provision is unusual in the 
laws of nations. But the people of the United States are 
emigrants, or descendants of emigrants, from foreign na- 
tions. The history of this country shows that immigrants 
here retain, as a rule, a feeling of friendliness for the cus- 
toms, institutions, and laws of their native land, even if 
they do not, as many of them do, have a friendliness for 
the government which they left.' All these immigrants 
are entitled, as soon as naturalized, to vote, and to hold 
any office under this government but that of President 
and of Vice-President. At the time of the formation of 
the constitution there was but one nation in Europe 
friendly to the young republic, and not any nation friendly 
to the republican form of government, and now it does 
not appear that much, if any, change has taken place in 
the sentiment of Europe toward the United States. There 
was reason then, and is now, to regard the bestowment of 
favors upon officials of the United States, by foreign gov- 
ernments, with disfavor and suspicion. History shows 
that even native officials are frequently corrupted by for- 
eign governments. There is reason why foreign govern- 
ments might be more ready to bestow favors upon officials 
of the United States than upon those of other countries — 
for the reason that the form of government here is a pro- 
test against their form of governments, if not a menace to 
them. 



RELATIONS OF THE STATES. 201 

The acceptance of presents begets friendliness toward 
the giver. The increase of friendliness toward foreign 
powers by officials of the United States would tend to 
weaken their attachment to the government which they 
were elected or appointed to serve, and thus make their 
official services less hearty and less valuable, if not posi- 
tively harmful. Such presents may be in the nature of 
bribes, or of payment for treasonable acts. In any event, 
the constitution wisely prohibits all such acceptance of 
presents, unless by consent of Congress (page 116). [Art. I., 
sec. 9.] 

6. The prohibition concerning the requirement of a 
religious test as a qualification for office has already been 
referred to. It is a general prohibition, and applies to 
citizens in their individual capacity, as well as to states 
and to the national government in their organized capa- 
cities. If a voter may make a religious opinion or religious 
profession of a candidate for office a test of fitness, there is 
no reason why the majority of the people of a state, or of 
the United States, may not unite to make the same test. 
While it may seem, sometimes, that a person's faith may 
have some influence in determining his character, certainly 
in expressing his character, such is hardly the sense of the 
best men and women. Character and fitness for the office 
should be determined by considerations other than those 
of religious faith or religious professions, not only by the 
government, but by the voters. [Art. VI.] 

7. The prohibitions of the first, second, third, fourth, 
fifth, seventh, eighth, and ninth amendments of the consti- 
tution have already been considered. They are general 
in their nature ; some of them applying to individuals as 
well as to the governments of the state and of the nation, 



202 RELATIONS OF THE STATES. 

and most of them applying to the states as well as to the 
United States. 

8. By the thirteenth amendment, slavery is forever pro- 
hibited within the United States. Slavery is not a natural 
condition of humanity, under the Anglo-Saxon and Eng- 
lish laws, as inherited and applied by the people of the 
United States. As a consequence, slavery can exist only 
in pursuance of some law positively authorizing it. This 
section would prohibit the United States, and all the states 
and territories, passing any law permitting or sustaining 
slavery, and prohibit all officers of the state, and of the 
nation upholding slavery in any way, actively or passively. 
It goes further, and prohibits the individual resident sus- 
taining any enslavement of a human being. 

9. In the conduct of the war of 1861-65, the national 
government incurred an immense debt, — almost $2,700,- 
000,000, — besides vast obligations for bounties and pen- 
sions. By the terms of the fourteenth amendment, section 
four, this debt and these obligations cannot be repudiated 
by the government nor by the people. It is a pledge 
to the world that the debt and obligations will be met 
promptly and cheerfully. On the other hand, the other 
party to the war incurred large debts and liabilities. In 
courts of law, the losing party usually has to pay the costs 
made by the successful party. After war between nations, 
it is not unusual for the nation beaten to pay a large sum 
toward the expenses of the war of the conquering nation. 
It would be out of the question for the victorious party or 
nation to pay the expenses of the losing party or nation. 

The slaves were emancipated as a war-measure, to aid 
in suppressing the civil war. The President and Congress 
considered such emancipation a necessity. Such being the 



RELATIONS OF THE STATES. 203 

case, it would not be right for the people to pay for the 
loss of such slaves. 

10. By the fifteenth amendment, the United States is 
prohibited denying to any citizen the right to vote, or 
abridging that right, on account of the race, color, or 
previous condition of servitude of the voter. The scope 
and extent of this prohibition have been considered al- 
ready, and they need not be repeated (page 196). 



204 RELATIONS OF THE STATES. 



CHAPTER XXV. 

RELATIONS OF THE STATES. — Continued. 

1. Constitutional Commands. — The people, who elect 
the officers and who have to pay the taxes, have a right 
to know how their servants, the officers, spend the public 
money. Hence, the constitution commands that a regular 
statement and account of receipts and expenditures of all 
public money shall be published from time to time. The 
statement issued by the government is seldom in detail, 
and it thus gives but little practical information to the 
people. But the laws are regularly published, and they 
give more specific information about the government's 
business. In addition to this, the books of the govern- 
ment are necessarily public, and all proper persons have a 
right to examine them. Besides, the neAVspapers usually 
print information about governmental financial affairs, in 
considerable detail. Hence, the people generally know 
all that they care to know about the receipt and expendi- 
ture of the public money. This publicity is a proper and 
efficient safeguard against unwise expenditures, as well 
as against misappropriation. [Art. L, sec. 9.] 

2. The courts and officers of each state are directed to 
give full faith and credit to all the public acts and records 
and judicial proceedings of every other state. The official 
action of public officers, and the proceedings of courts, are 
considered, in the state where made, to state facts as they 
exist, and to be regular and proper, until the contrary is 



EELATIONS OF THE STATES. 205 

shown. This command means that they shall be so con- 
sidered in other states. Thus, a judgment rendered in 
one state must be as valid in another state as in the state 
where rendered, and, in order to enforce it, suit does not 
have to be. brought upon the original cause of action. 
In like manner, the acts of other public officers must be 
recognized. Under this provision of the constitution, 
Congress has enacted a law describing and prescribing the 
method by which these public acts, records, and proceed- 
ings of one state may be proved for use in another state. 
The method is very simple, by a mere copy certified to be 
correct by the officer having the record or proceedings in 
charge. [Art. IV., sec. 1.] 

3. We have already considered the prohibition upon the 
states, wdierein they are forbidden to abridge any of the 
privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States. 
A privilege is some favor granted; an immunity is some 
protection afforded. This amendment, in effect, super- 
sedes, as it clearly extends and strengthens, the first clause 
of section two, Article IV., which provides that the citi- 
zens of each state shall be entitled to all the privileges or 
immunities of citizens of the several states. A citizen of 
a state, when he goes into another state, is entitled, under 
this clause, to all the civil rights of resident citizens. He 
may buy, sell, trade, engage in any business, and may aj)- 
peal to the courts for the enforcement or protection of his 
rights. This clause does not guaranty the right to vote, 
or to hold office, as these are political rights, although the 
words of the clause seem to cover them. [Art. IV., sec. 
1 : 14th amendment, sec. 1, and 15th amendment.] 

4. The nature of our form of government renders com- 
munication between the states very easy — so easy that 



206 RELATIONS OF THE STATES. 

criminals find ready refuge in another state from tlie officers 
of the one in which the crime is committed. This would 
be a very serious evil if permitted. Accordingly, the con- 
stitution provides that persons charged in one state, with 
treason, felony, or other crime, and who shall flee into 
another state, shall be delivered up, on demand, to the 
authorities of the state from which he fled. This provision 
is so reasonable that all the states have laws regulating 
the method of snch delivery, the amount of proof of the 
crime required to accompany the demand, and the details 
by which the demand is to be made and executed. A 
person can be tried for a crime in the state or district 
only in which the crime was committed, both by the com- 
mon law and by the law of all the states ; hence, the 
return of the fugitive to the place of the commission 
of the crime is necessary for a legal trial. [Art. IV., 
sec. 2.] 

5. In the United States, in marked contrast with other 
nations, the government is a public affair, a res publica. 
In most other nations, a class, or a few classes, only, of 
the people participate in the government. All others are 
subjects of the government, but can take no part in its 
administration. Here, every male citizen twenty-one years 
of age is a voter and may hold office. Here, the govern- 
ment is interesting to all, whether they are voters or not. 
This form of government, by which all the citizens are 
voters and may be officers, in which all have an interest, 
in which they elect the officers of the government and are 
represented in the legislative department, is called a re- 
publican form. The constitution guaranties such a form 
of government to each state. Even if a majority of the 
people of a state desires to abolish the republican form 



RELATIONS OF THE STATES. 207 

and to adopt some other, the constitution forbids such 
change. The nation, by its constitution, is committed to 
this popular and liberal form, and will not permit any state 
to adopt any other. [Art. IV"., sec. 4.] 

6. The United States is under obligations to protect 
each state againt invasion. The right to raise and main- 
tain armies and navies was relinquished by each state 
upon its ratification of the constitution, and is denied by 
the constitution to the states that have been admitted 
since. This right was reserved to the United States. So 
the states having no means of protecting themselves 
against invasion, it is proper that the nation should as- 
sume the duty. [Art. IV., sec. 4.] ^ 

7. Sometimes disobedience to the laws is so strong as 
to defy all the power of the police force of a state, and 
even of its militia. Inasmuch as the police and the 
militia are composed of citizens, a widespread disobedi- 
ence of law might include large proportions of those 
two bodies. In such case, the power of the state to en- 
force its laws would be very much weakened. Besides, 
it is usually a work of days to call the militia-men from 
their usual pursuits, for their organization into an armed 
force. In such cases, when delays are dangerous, the 
general government is directed to protect the state against 
domestic violence. In order to obtain this protection 
from the national government, the legislature must ask it 
by a formal vote. If the legislature is not in session, and 
if the need is too urgent to await the assemblage of that 
body, the governor of the state may make the demand. 
As the United States keeps a standing army, though small, 
it can generally furnish help upon short notice. [Art. IV., 
sec. 4.] 



208 EELATIONS OF THE STATES. 

8, Upon the adoption of the constitution, most of the 
debts created by the confederacy, and by the several col- 
onies, in aid of the Revolutionary War, were still unpaid, 
and for the payment of those debts the confederacy had 
placed itself under obligation. The constitution provided 
that those debts should be as valid under the new govern- 
ment as they were under the old one. As the debts of 
the colonies, as well as those of the confederacy, were 
created in the common defense, for the benefit of all the 
colonies, the United States included them all in one list 
and paid them all. [Art. VI.] 



AMENDMENTS TO THE CONSTITUTION. 209 



CHAPTER XXVI. 

AMENDMENTS TO THE CONSTITUTION. 

A EEFERENCE to Article V. will show that the framers 
of the constitution did not suppose that their work was 
perfect. They realized that there would be growth in 
the nation, in wealth, in population, in culture and civili- 
zation, in developed industry and commerce, and in the 
addition of new states. They knew that their idea^of 
government were not perfect, that the form of govern- 
ment which they had established was an experiment. They 
therefore properly provided for such changes in the frame- 
work of the government as the wisdom which time and 
experience bring should demand. Additional machinery 
might be needed, or changes desired in the machinery 
which they had provided. They were in sympathy with 
the statement in the Declaration of Independence, that 
"it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish" 
their form of government, " and to institute a new gov- 
ernment, laying its foundation on such principles, and 
organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem 
most likely to effect their safety and happiness." There 
are two methods provided for making amendments to the 
constitution. 

1. At any time Congress may propose amendments to 
the constitution. To do this, each house must pass a 
joint resolution by a vote of two-thirds of its members. 
The joint resolution is passed in the same manner and b}^ 



210 AMENDMENTS TO THE CONSTITUTION. 

the same process and solemnity required in the passage of 
a bill, and it must be signed by the President also. A 
cojDy of the proposed amendment is then sent, by the Sec- 
retary of State, to the governor of each state, with the 
proper certificate and statement. At the first session of 
the legislature of each state, after its receipt by the gov- 
ernor, it is sent to the legislature for action. If the legis- 
lature approves the proposed amendment, it ratifies the 
same, in the same way that it passes a bill, by a majority 
vote of each house. When the legislatures of three-fourths 
of all the states have ratified such proposed amendment, 
it becomes a part of the constitution. 

Instead of sending the proposed amendment to the legis- 
lature of the states for ratification. Congress may provide 
for a ratification by conventions of the states, elected by the 
people. No amendment has been ratified yet in that man- 
ner, but the constitution provides for it. In case Congress 
should decide upon that method of ratification. Congress 
can provide the machinery for such conventions, or it can 
delegate to the states the duty to provide for the conven- 
tions. Three-fourths of the states must ratify by con- 
vention as well as by legislature, in order to give it effect. 

2. The other method for amending the constitution is by 
convention. By this method, the states take the initiative. 
When the lesfislatures of two-thirds of the states shall 
make application to Congress for a convention to revise 
the constitution, Congress passes a bill calling a conven- 
tion for the purpose named. The constitution does not 
state what shall be the basis of representation in such 
convention, but justice would require that each state 
should have representation in proportion to its population, 
— or in proportion to its representation in the two houses 



AJMENDMENTS TO THE CONSTITUTION. 211 

of Congress, The bill would naturally provide the time 
and manner of election, the time and place of meeting, 
and all the other details needed. Such convention would 
be at liberty to propose any amendments that it could 
agree upon, or to propose an entirely new constitution. 
After such convention should adjourn, the proposed 
amendments, or proposed new constitution, would be sent 
to the state legislatures, or to conventions of the states, 
in the manner described in the paragraph above. A rati- 
fication of such action of the convention by three-fourths 
of all the states is necessary to amend the constitution by 
that method, as well as by the other. 

3. It will be seen that there is some limitation upon 4he 
power to amend. In another part of the constitution 
power had been denied to Congress to prohibit the slave 
trade prior to the year 1808. Here the same instrument 
prohibits any amendment that shall recall that prohibition 
prior to the date named. The other section referred to, 
and which cannot be changed before 1808, is the one re- 
lating to the levy of a capitation tax. Now that the date 
has passed, the slave trade has been abolished and pro- 
hibited by law, and practically so by later amendments to 
the constitution. For if slavery is forbidden in the United 
States, there can be no slave trade here. The change in 
the basis of levying a capitation tax can now be made if 
desirable. 

4. One feature of the constitution cannot be changed 
without the ratification of every state in the Union, — 
that feature is the equality of states in the Senate of the 
United States. Thus the equality of the states in the 
Senate is left with each state, and until all agree to abol- 
ish it, it must continue. 



APPENDIX 



As has already been stated, the first Continental Con- 
gress, which assembled at Philadelphia September 5, 1774, 
adopted a Declaration of Rights. The following is the 
document, as finally agreed upon by the Congress, October 
14, 1774. 

I. • 

DECLARATION OF EIGHTS. 

Whereas, since the close of the last war, the British parlia- 
ment claiming a power of right, to bind the people of America 
by statutes in all cases whatsoever, hath, in some acts, expressly 
imposed taxes on them, and in others, under various pretences, 
but in fact for the purpose of raising a revenue, hath imposed 
rates and duties payable in these colonies, established a board 
of commissioners, with unconstitutional powers, and extended 
the jurisdiction of courts of admiralty, not only for collecting 
the said duties, but for the trial of causes merely arising within 
the body of a county : 

And whereas, in consequence of other statutes, judges, who 
before held only estates at will in their offices, have been made 
dependent on the crown alone for their salaries, and standing 
armies kept in times of peace : And whereas it has lately been 
resolved in parliament, that by force of a statute, made in the 
thirty-fiftii year of the reign of king Henry the eighth, colonists 
may be transported to England, and tried there upon accusa- 
tions for treasons, and misprisions, or concealments of treasons 



214 APPENDIX. 

committed in the colonies, and by a late statute, such trials 
have been directed in cases therein mentioned : 

And whereas, in the last session of parliament, three statutes 
were made ; one, entitled an " Act to discontinue, in such man- 
"ner and for such time as are therein mentioned, the landing 
" and discharging, lading, or shipping of goods, wares and nier- 
" chandise, at the town, and within the harbour of Boston, in 
"the province of Massachusetts-Bay, in North- America ; " an- 
other, entitled '- An act for the better regulating the government 
" of the province of Massachusetts-Bay in New-England ; " and 
another, entitled "An act for the impartial administration of 
" justice, in the cases of persons questioned for au^' act done by 
"them in the execution of the law, or for the suppression of 
" riots and tumults, in the province of the Massachusetts-Bay, 
" in New-England ; " and another statute was then made, " for 
' ' making more effectual provision for the government of the 
"province of Quebec, &c." All which statutes are impolitic, 
unjust, and cruel, as well as unconstitutional, and most danger- 
ous and destructive of American rights : 

And whereas, assemblies have been frequently dissolved, con- 
trary to the rights of the people, when they attempted to de- 
liberate on grievances ; and their dutiful, humble, loyal, and 
reasonable petitions to the crown for redress, have been repeat- 
edly treated with contempt, by his majesty's ministers of state : 

The good people of the several colonies of New-Hampshire, 
Massachusetts-Bay, Rhode-Island and Providence Plantations, 
Connecticut, New-York, New-Jersey, Pennsylvania, New-Castle, 
Kent, and Sussex, on Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North- 
Carolina, and South-Carolina, justly alarmed at these arbitrary 
proceedings of parliament and administration, have severally 
elected, constituted, and appointed deputies to meet, and sit 
in General Congress, in the city of Pliiladelphia, in order to 
obtain such establishment, as that their religion, laws, and 
liberties, may not be subverted. Whereupon the deputies so 



DECLAEATION OF RIGHTS. 215 

appointed being now assembled, in a full and free representa- 
tion of these colonies, taking into their most serious consider- 
ation, the best means of attaining the ends aforesaid, do, in the 
first place, as Englishmen, their ancestors, in like cases have 
usually done, for affecting and vindicating their rights and lib- 
erties,^ DECLARE, 

That the inhabitants of the English colonies in North-Amer- 
ica, by the immutable laws of nature, the principles of the 
English constitution, and the several charters or compacts, have 
the following RIGHTS : 

Resolved, N. C. D* 1. That they are entitled to life, liberty, 
and property, and they have never ceded to any sovereign 
power whatever, a right to dispose of either without their co]> 
sent. 

Resolved, JSf. C. D. 2. That our ancestors, who first settled 
these colonies, were at the time of their emigration from the 
mother country, entitled to all the rights, liberties, and immuni- 
ties of free and natural-born subjects, within the realm of Eng- 
land. 

Resolved, N. C. D. 3. That by such emigration they by no 
means forfeited, surrendered, or lost any of those rights, but 
that they were, and their descendants now are, entitled to the 
exercise and enjo3^ment of all such of them, as their local and 
other circumstances enable them to exercise and enjo3^ 

Resolved, 4. That the foundation of English libert}^ and of 
all free government, is a right in the people to participate in 
their legislative council : and as the English colonists are not 
represented, and from their local and other circumstances, can- 
not properl}' be represented in the British parliament, they are 
entitled to a free and exclusive power of legislation in their 
several provincial legislatures, where their right of representa- 
tion can alone be preserved, in all cases of taxation and internal 

* All abbreviation for nemine, contradicente ; that is, no one opposing or 
disagreeing. 



216 APPENDIX, 

polity-, subject only to the negative of their sovereign, in such 
manner as has been heretofore used and accustomed. But, 
from the necessity of the case, and a regard to the mutual inter- 
est of both countries, we cheerfully consent to the operation of 
such acts of the British parliament, as are bona fide, restrained 
to the regulation of our external commerce, for the purpose of 
securing the commercial advantages of the whole empire to the 
mother country, and the commercial benefits of its respective 
members ; excluding ever}- idea of taxation internal or exter- 
nal, for raising a revenue on the svibjects in America, without 
their consent. 

Resolved, N. C. D. 5. That the respective colonies are enti- 
tled to the common law of England, and more especialh' to the 
great and inestimable privilege of being tried by their peers of 
the vicinage, according to the course of that law. 

Resolved, G. That they are entitled to the benefit of such of 
the English statutes, as existed at the time of their coloniza- 
tion ; and which they have, by experience, respectively found 
to be applicable to their several local and other circumstances. 

Resolved, N. C. D. 7. That these, his majesty's colonies, are 
likewise entitled to all the immunities and privileges granted 
and confirmed to them by ro3^al charter, or secured by their 
several codes of provincial laws. 

Resolved, N. C D. 8. That they have a right peaceably to 
assemble, consider of their grievances, and petition the king ; 
and that all prosecutions, prohibitory proclamations, and com- 
mitments for the same, are illegal. 

Resolved, N. C. D. 9. That the keeping a standing army in 
these colonies, in times of peace, without the consent of the 
legislature of that colony, in Avhich such army is kept, is against 
law. 

Resolved, N. C. D. 10. It is indispensably necessary to 
good government, and rendered essential by the English con- 
stitution, that the constituent branches of the leg-islature be 



DECLARATION OF RIGHTS. 217 

independent of each other ; that, therefore, the exercise of 
legislative power in several colonies, by a council appointed, 
during pleasure, by the crown, is unconstitutional, dangerous 
and destructive to the freedom of American legislation. 

All and each of which the aforesaid deputies, in behalf of 
themselves, and their constituents, do claim, demand, and in- 
sist on, as their indubitable rights and liberties ; which cannot 
be legally taken from them, altered or abridged by any power 
whatever, without their own consent, by their representatives 
in their several provincial legislatures. 

In the course of our inquiry, we find many infringements and 
violations of the foregoing rights, which from an ardent desire, 
that harmony and mutual intercourse of affection and intereifc 
may be restored, we pass over for the present, and proceed 
to state such acts and measures as have been adopted since 
the last war, which demonstrate a system formed to enslave 
America. 

Resolved, N. C. D. That the following acts of parliament 
are infringements and violations of the rights of the colonists ; 
and that the repeal of them is essentially necessary, in order to 
restore harmony between Great Britain and the American colo- 
nies, viz. 

The several acts of 4 Geo. III. ch. 15,. and ch. 34. — 5 Geo. 
III. ch. 25.-6 Geo. III. ch. 52.-7 Geo. III. eh. 41, and ch. 
46. — 8 Geo. III. ch. 22, which impose duties for the purpose 
of raising a revenue in America, extend the power of the admi- 
ralty courts beyond their ancient limits, deprive the American 
subjects of trial by jury, authorize the judges' certificate to in- 
demnify the prosecutor from damages, that he might otherwise 
be liable to, requiring oppressive security from a claimant of 
ships and goods seized, before he shall be allowed to defend his 
property, and are subversive of American rights. 

Also 12 Geo. III. ch. 24, entitled "An act for the better 
" securing his majesty's dock-yards, magazines, ships, ammu- 



218 APPENDIX. 

" nition, and stores," which declares a new offence in America, 
and deprives the American subject of a constitutional trial by 
jury of the vicinage, by authorizing the trial of any person, 
charged with the committing any offence described in the said 
act, out of the realm, to be indicted and tried for the same in 
any shire or county within the realm. 

Also the three acts passed in the last session of parliament, 
for stopping the port and blocking up the harbour of Boston, 
for altering the charter and government of Massachusetts-Bay, 
and that which is entitled ' ' An act for the better administration 
" of justice," &c. 

Also the act passed in the same session for establishing the 
Roman Catholic religion, in the province of Quebec, abolishing 
the equitable system of English laws, and erecting a tyranny 
there, to the great danger, (from so total a dissimilarity of reli- 
gion, law and government) of the neighbouring British colonies, 
by the assistance of whose blood and treasure the said country 
was conquered from France. 

Also the act passed in the same session, for the better pro- 
viding suitable quarters for officers and soldiers in his majesty's 
service, in North- America. 

Also, that the keeping a standing armj' in several of these 
colonies in time of peace, without the consent of the legislature 
of that colony, in which such army is kept, is against law. 

To these grievous acts and measures, Americans cannot sub- 
mit, but in hopes their fellow subjects in Great-Britain will, on 
a revision of them, restore us to that state, in which both coun- 
tries found happiness and prosperity, we have for the present, 
onl}^ resolved to pm-sue the following peaceable measures: 1. 
To enter into a non-importation, non-consumption, and non- 
exportation agreement or association. 2. To prepare an ad- 
dress to the people of Great-Britain, and a memorial to the 
inhabitants of British-America: and 3. To prepare a loyal 
address to his majesty, agreeable to resolutions already entered 
into. 



ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION. 219 



II. 

ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION AND PERPETUAL UNION 
BETWEEN THE STATES. 

To all to ■whom these presents shall come, ive the undersigned 
Delegates of the States affixed to our names, send greeting : — 
Whereas the Delegates of the United States of America in Con- 
gress assembled did ou the 15th day of November in the Year 
of our Lord 1777, and in the Second Year of the Independence 
of America agree to certain articles Of Confederation and per- 
petual Union between the States of New-Hampshire, Massachu- 
setts-bay, Rhode-Island and Providence Plantations, Connecti- 
cut, New-York, New-Jerse_y, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Mary- 
land, Virginia, North-Carolina, South-Carolina, and Georgia, 
in the words following, viz. : 

Articles of Confederation and Perjjetual Union hetioeen the States 
of Neio Hampsliire, Massachusetts-bay, Rhode Island a.yid 
Providence Plantations, Connecticut, New- York, New- Jersey , 
Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North-Caro- 
lina, South- Carolina, and Georgia. 

Article I. The Stile of this confederacy shall be "The 
" United States of America." 

Article II. Each state retains its sovereignty, freedom and 
independence, and every Power, Jurisdiction and right, which 
is not by this confederation expressl}' delegated tp the united 
states, in congress assembled. 

Article III. The said states hereby severally enter into a 
firm league of friendship with each other, for their common 
defence, the security of their Liberties, and their mutual aud 
general welfare, binding themselves to assist each other, against 
all force offered to, or attacks made upon them, or any of them. 



220 ' APPENDIX. 

on account of religion, sovereignt}', trade, or any other pretence 
whatever. 

Article IV. The better to secure and perpetuate mutual 
friendship and intercourse among the people of the different 
states in this Union, the free inhabitants of each of these states, 
paupers, vagabonds, and fugitives from Justice excepted, shall 
be entitled to all privileges and immunities of free citizens in 
the several states ; and the people of each state shall have free 
ingress and regress to and from any other state, and shall enjoy 
therein all the privileges of trade and commerce, subject to the 
same duties, impositions and restrictions as the inhabitants 
thereof respectively, provided that such restriction shall not 
extend so far as to prevent the removal of property imported 
into any state, to any other state of which the Owner is an 
inhabitant; provided also that no imposition, duties or restric- 
tions shall be laid by any state, on the property of the united 
states, or either of them. 

If any person guilty of, or charged with treason, felony, or 
other high misdemeanor in any state, shall flee from Justice, 
and be found in any of the united states, he shall upon demand 
of the governor or executive power, of the state from which he 
fled, be delivered up and removed to the state having jurisdic- 
tion of his offence. 

Full faith and credit shall be given in each of these states to 
the records, acts and judicial proceedings of the courts and 
magistrates of every other state. 

Article V. For the more convenient management of the 
general interest of the united states, delegates shall be annually 
appointed in such manner as the legislature of each state shall 
direct, to meet in congress on the first Monday in November, 
in every year, with a power reserved to each state, to recal its 
delegates, or any of them, at any time within the year, and to 
send others in their stead, for the remainder of the Year. 



AKTICLES OF CONFEDEEATION. 221 

No state shall be represented in congress b}' less than two, 
nor by more than seven members ; and no person shall be capa- 
ble of being a delegate for more than three years in any term 
of six years ; nor shall any person, being a delegate, be capable 
of holding any office under the united states, for which he, or 
another for his benefit receives any salary, fees or emolument 
of any kind. 

Each state shall maintain its own delegates in an}' meeting of 
the states, and while they act as members of the committee of 
the states. 

In determining questions in the united states, in congress 
assembled, each state shall have one vote. 

Freedom of speech and debate in congress shall not be in^ 
peached or questioned in any Court, or place out of congress, 
and the members of congress shall be protected in their persons 
from arrests and imprisonments, during the time of their going 
to and from, and attendance on congress, except for treason, 
felony, or breach of the peace. 

Article VI. No state without the Consent of the united 
states in congress assembled, shall send any embassy to, or re- 
ceive any embassy from, or enter into any conference, agree- 
ment, alliance or treaty with any King prince or state ; nor shall 
any person holding any office of profit or trust under the united 
states, or any of them, accept of any present, emolument, office 
or title of any kind whatever from any king, prince, or foreign 
state ; nor shall the united states in congress assembled, or any 
of them, grant any title of nobilit}'. 

No two or more states shall enter into any treaty, confedera- 
tion or alliance whatever between them, without the consent of 
the united states in congress assembled, specifying accurately 
the purposes for which the same is to be entered into, and how 
long it shall continue. 



APPENDIX. 

No state shall lay any imposts or duties, which may interfere 
with any stipulations in treaties, entered into by the united 
states in congress assembled, with any king, prince, or state, in 
pursuance of any treaties already proposed by congress, to the 
courts of France and Spain. 

No vessels of war shall be kept up in time of peace by any 
state, except such number only, as shall be deemed necessarj' 
by the united states in congress assembled, for the defence of 
such state, or its trade ; nor shall any body of forces be kept 
up by any state, in time of peace, except such number only, as 
in the judgment of the united states, in congress assembled, 
shall be deemed requisite to garrison the forts necessary for the 
defence of such state ; but every state shall alwa3'S keep up a 
well regulated and disciplined militia, sufficiently armed and 
accoutred, and shall provide and have constantly ready for use, 
in public stores, a due number of field pieces and tents, and a 
proper quantity of arms, ammunition and camp equipage. 

No state shall engage in any war without the consent of the 
united states in congress assembled, unless such state be actu- 
ally invaded by enemies, or shall have received certain advice 
of a resolution being formed by some nation of Indians to invade 
such state, and the danger is so imminent as not to admit of a 
delay, till the united states in congress assembled can be con- 
sulted: nor shall any state grant commissions to any ships or 
vessels of war, nor letters of marque or reprisal, except it be 
after a declaration of war by the .united states in congress as- 
sembled, and then only against the kingdom or state and the 
subjects thereof, against which war has been so declared, and 
under such regulations as shall be established by the united 
states in congress assembled, unless such state be infested by 
pirates, in which case vessels of war may be fitted out for that 
occasion, and kept so long as the danger shall continue, or until 
the united states in congress assembled shall determine other- 
wise. 



AKTiGLES OF CONFEDERATION. 223 

Article VII. When laiid-forces are raised by any state for 
the common defence, all officers of or under the rank of colonel, 
shall be appointed by the legislature of each state respectively 
by whom such forces shall be raised, or in such manner as such 
state shall direct, and all vacancies shall be filled up by the state 
which first made the appointment. 

Article VIII. All charges of war, and all other expenses 
that shall be incurred for the common defence or general wel- 
fare, and allowed by the united states in congress assembled, 
shall be defrayed out of a common treasury, which shall be 
supplied b}" the several states, in proportion to the value of all 
land within each state, granted to or surveyed for any Person, 
as such laud and the buildings and improvements thereon shall 
be estimated according to such mode as the united states in 
congress assembled, shall from time to time, direct and appoint. 
The taxes for paying that proportion shall be paid and levied 
by the authority and direction of the legislatures of the several 
states within the time agreed upon by the united states in con- 
gress assembled. 

Article IX. The united states in congress assembled, shall 
have the sole and exclusive right and power of determining on 
peace and war, except in cases mentioned in the 6th article — of 
sending and receiving ambassadors — entering into treaties and 
alliances, provided that no treaty of conmierce shall be made 
whereb}" the legislative power of the respective states shall be 
restrained from imposing such imposts and duties on foreigners, 
as their own people are subjected to, or from prohibiting the 
exportation or importation of any species of goods or commodi- 
ties whatsoever — of establishing rules for deciding in all cases, 
what captures on land or water shall be legal, and in what man- 
ner prizes taken liy land or naval forces in the service of the 
united states shall be divided or appropriated — of granting let- 



224 APPENDIX. 

ters of marque and reprisal in times of peace — appointing courts 
for trial of piracies and felonies committed on the high seas 
and establishing courts for receiving and determining finally 
appeals in all cases of captures, provided that no member of 
congress shall be appointed a judge of any of the said courts. 

The united states in congress assembled shall also be the last 
resort on appeal in all dispntes and differences now subsisting or 
that hereafter may arise between two or more states concerning 
boundary, jurisdiction or any other cause whatever ; which au- 
thorit}' shall always be exercised in the manner following. When- 
ever the legislative or executive authority or lawful agent of any 
state in controversy with another shall present a petition to con- 
gress, stating the matter in question and praying for a hearing, 
notice thereof shall be given by order of congress to the legis- 
lative or executive authority of the other state in controversy, 
and a day assigned for the appearance of the parties by their 
lawful agents, who shall then be directed to appoint by joint con- 
sent, commissioners or judges to constitute a court for hearing 
and determining the matter in question : but if the}^ cannot 
agree, congress shall name three persons out of each of the 
united states, and from the list of such persons each party shall 
alternately strike out one, the petitioners beginning, until the 
number shall be reduced to thirteen ; and from that number not 
less than seven, nor more than nine names as congress shall 
direct, shall in the presence of congress be drawn out by lot, and 
the persons whose names shall be so drawn or any five of them, 
shall be commissioners or judges, to hear and finally determine 
the controversy, so always as a major part of the judges who 
shall hear the cause shall agree in the determination : and if 
either party shall neglect to attend at the day appointed, without 
showing reasons, which congress shall judge sufficient, or being 
present shall refuse to strike, the congress shall proceed to nomi- 
nate three persons out of each state, and the secretary of con- 
gress shall strike in behalf of such party absent or refusing ; 



AETICLBS OF CONFEDERATION. 225 

and the judgment and sentence of the court to be appomted, in 
the manner before prescribed, shall be final and conclusive ; 
and if any of the parties, shall refuse to submit to the authority 
of such court, or to appear or defend their claim or cause, the 
court shall nevertheless proceed to pronounce sentence, or judg- 
ment, which shall in like manner be final and decisive, the judg- 
ment or sentence and other proceedings being in either case 
transmitted to congress, and lodged among the acts of congress 
for the security of the parties concerned : provided that every 
Commissioner, before he sits in judgment, shall take an oath to 
be administered by one of the judges of the supreme or superior 
Court of the state, where the cause shall be tried, "well and 
truly to hear and determine the manner in question, according 
to the best of his judgment, without favour, affection or hope 
of reward : " provided also that no state shall be deprived of 
territory for the benefit of the united states. 

All controversies concerning the private right of soil claimed 
under different grants of two or more states, whose jurisdictions 
as they may respect such lands, and the states which passed such 
grants are adjusted, the said grants or either of them being at 
the same time claimed to have originated antecedent to such 
settlement of jurisdiction, shall on the petition of either party to 
the congress of the united states, be finally determined as near 
as may be in the same manner as is before prescribed for decid- 
ing disputes respecting territorial jurisdiction between different 
states. 

The united states in congress assembled shall also have the 
sole and exclusive right and power of regulating 'the alloy and 
value of coin struck by their own authority, or by that of the 
respective states — fixing the standard of weights and measures 
throughout the United States — regulating the trade and man- 
aging all affairs with the Indians, not members of any of the 
states, provided that the legislative right of any state within its 
own limits be not infringed or violated — establishing or regulat- 



226 APPENDIX. 

iug post-offices from one state to another, throughout all the 
united states, and exacting such postage on the papers passing 
thro' the same as may be requisite to defray the expenses of the 
said office — appointing all officers of the land forces, in the ser- 
vice of the united states, excepting regimental officers — ap- 
pointing all the officers of the naval forces, and commissioning 
all officers whatever in the service of the imited states — making 
rules for the government and regulation of the said land and 
naval forces, and directing their operations. 

The united states in congress assembled shall have authority 
to appoint a committee, to sit in the recess of congress, to be 
denominated '-A Committee of the States," and to consist of 
one delegate from each state : and to appoint such other com- 
mittees and civil officers as may be necessary for managing the 
general affairs of the rmited states under their direction — to 
appoint one of their number to preside, provided that no person 
be allowed to serve in the office of president more than one year 
in any term of three years : to ascertain the necessary sums of 
Money to be raised for the service of the united states, and to 
appropriate and apply the same for defraying the public ex- 
penses — to borrow money, or emit bUls on the credit of the 
united states, transmitting every half year to the respective states 
an account of the sums of money so borrowed or emitted, — to 
build and equip a navy — to agree upon the number of land forces, 
and to make requisitions from each state for its quota, in pro- 
portion to the number of white inhabitants in such state ; which 
requisition shall be binding, and thereupon the legislature of 
each state shall appoint the regimental officers, raise the men 
and cloath, arm and equip them in a soldier like manner, at the 
expense of the united states ; and the officers and men so 
cloathed, armed and equipped shall march to the place ap- 
pointed, and within the time agreed on by the united states in 
congress assembled : But if the united states in congi-ess assem- 
bled shall, on consideration of circumstances judge proper that 



AETICLES OF CO^TFEDEEATIOX. 227 

any state should not raise men, or should raise a smaller num- 
ber than its quota, and that any other state should raise a greater 
number of men than the quota thereof, such exti-a number shall 
be raised, officered, cloathed, armed and equipped in the same 
manner as the quota of such state, unless the legislature of such 
state shaU judge that such extra number cannot be safely spared 
out of the same, in which case they shall raise, officer, cloath, 
arm and equip as many of such extra number as they judge can 
be safely spared. And the officers and men so cloathed, armed 
and equipped, shall march to the place appointed, and within 
the time agi-eed on by the united states in congi'ess assembled. 

The united states in congi-ess assembled shall never engage 
in a war. nor grant letters of marque and reprisal in time 
of peace, nor enter into any treaties or alliances, nor coin 
money, nor regulate the value thereof, nor ascertain the sums 
and expenses necessaiy for the defence and welfare of the 
united states, or any of them, nor emit biUs, nor borrow money 
on the credit of the united states, nor appropriate money, nor 
agi'ee upon the number of vessels of war, to be buUt or pm*- 
chased, or the nmnber of land or sea forces to be raised, nor 
appoint a commander in c-hief of the army or navy, unless nine 
states assent to the same : nor shall a question ou any other 
point, except for adjourning from day to day be determined, 
unless by the votes of a majority of the united states in con- 
gress assembled. 

The Congress of the united states shall have power to adjourn 
to any time within the year, and to any place within the united 
states, so that no period of adjournment be for a; longer dura- 
tion than the space of six months, and shall publish the Journal 
of theu' proceedings monthly, except such parts thereof relating 
to treaties, alliances or military operations, as in their judgment 
require secrecy ; and the yeas and nays of the delegates of each 
state on any question shall be entered on the Jommal, when it 
is desired bv anv delegate ; and the delegates of a state, or any 



228 APPENDIX. 

of them, at his or then" request shall be furnished with a tran- 
script of the said Journal, except such parts as are above ex- 
cepted, to lay before the legislatures of the several states. 

Article X. The committee of the states, or any nine of 
them, shall be authorized to execute, in the recess of congress, 
such of the powers of congress as the united states in congress 
assembled, by the consent of nine states, shall from time to time 
think expedient to vest them with ; provided that no power be 
delegated to the said committee, for the exercise of which, by 
the articles of confederation, the voice of nine states in the con- 
gress of the united states assembled is requisite. 

Akticle XI. Canada accediug to this confederation, and 
joining in the measures of the united states, shall be admitted 
into, and entitled to all the advantages of this union ; but no 
other colony shall be admitted into the same, unless such ad- 
mission be agreed to by nine states. 

Article XII. All bills of credit emitted, monies borrowed 
and debts contracted by, or under the authority of congress, 
before the assembling of the united states, in pursuance of the 
present confederation, shall be deemed and considered as a 
charge against the united states, for payment and satisfac- 
tion whereof the said united states, and the public faith are 
hereby solemnly pledged. 

Article XIII. Every state shall abide by the determina- 
tions of the united states in congress assembled, on all ques- 
tions which by this confederation is submitted to them. And 
the Articles of this confederation shall be inviolably observed 
by every state, and the union shall be perpetual ; nor shall an}^ 
alteration at any time hereafter be made in any of them ; unless 
such alteration be agreed to in a congress of the united states, 
and be afterwards confirmed by the legislatures of every state. 



ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION. 



229 



And Whereas it hath pleased the Great Governor of the 
World to incline the hearts of the legislatures we respectively 
represent in congress, to approve of, and to authorize us to 
ratify the said articles of confederation and perpetual union. 
Know Ye that we the undersigned delegates, by virtue of the 
power and authority to us given for that purpose, do by these 
presents, in the name and in behalf of our respective constitu- 
ents, fully and entirely ratify and confirm each and every of the 
said aiiicles of confederation and perpetual union, and all and 
singular the matters and things therein contained : And we do 
further solemnly plight and engage the faith of our respective 
constituents, that they shall abide by the determinations of i^e 
united states in congress assembled, on all questions, which by 
the said confederation are submitted to them. And that the 
articles thereof shall be inviolably observed by the states we 
respectively represent, and that the union shall be perpetual. 
In witness whereof we have hereunto set our hands in Congress. 
Done at Philadelphia in the state of Pennsylvania the 9th day 
of July in the Year of our Lord, 1778, and in the 3d year of 
the Independence of America. 



Josiah Bartlett, 

John Hancock, 
Samuel Adams, 
Elbridge Gerry, 

William Ellery, 
Henry Marchant, 

Roger Sherman, 
Samuel Huntington, 
Oliver "Wolcott, 
Jas Duane, 
Fras Lewis, 

Jno "Witherspoon, 

Rob* Morris, 
Daniel Roberdeau, 
Jon» Bayard Smith, 



John \^'entworth, jun. i On the part and behalf of the 



August 8th, 1778, 
Francis Dana, 
James Lovell, 
Samuel Holton, 

John Collins, 

Titus Hosmer, 
Andrew Adam, 

William Duer, 
Gouv Morris, 

iSTathi Scudder, 

William Clingan, 
Joseph Reed, 
22d July, 1778, 



state of New Hampshire. 

On the part and behalf of the 
state of Massachusetts-Bay. 

On the part and behalf of the 
state of Rhode-Island and 
Providence Plantations. 

On the part and behalf of the 

state of Connecticut. 

On the part and behalf of the 

state of Xew-Tork. 
On the part and behalf of the 

state of Xew-Jersey, jS'ovem- 

ber 26th, 1778. 

On the part and behalf of the 
state of Pennsylvania. 



230 



APPENDIX. 



Tho. M'KeaB, FelD. 12, 1779, 
John Dickinson, May 5, 1779, 
John Hanson, 
. March 1st, 1781, 
Richard Henry Lee, 
John Banister, 
Thomas Adams, 
John Penn, 

July 21st, 1778, 
Henry Lanrens, 
William Henry Drayton, 
Jno Matthews, 
Jno Walton, 

24th July, 1778, 



Nicholas Van Dyke, 

Daniel Carroll, 

March 1st, 1781, 
Jn" Harvie, 
Francis Lightfoot Lee, 

Corns Harnett, 
Jno Willi<;ms, 
Richd Hutsoii, 
Thos. Heyward, jun. 

Edwd Telfair, 
Edw"* Langworthy, 



On the part and behalf of the 

state of Delaware. 
On the part and behalf of the 

state of Maryland. 

On the part and behalf of the 
state of Virginia. 

On the part and behalf of the 
state of North Carolina. 

On the part and behalf of the 
state of South Carolina. 

On the part and behalf of the 
state of Georgia. 



III. 



THE DECLAKATION OE INDEPENDENCE, ADOPTED BY CON- 
GRESS JULY 4, 1776. 



A DECLARATION BY THE REPRESENTATIVES OP THE UNITED STATES OF 
AMERICA, IN CONGRESS ASSEMBLED. 

When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessar}' 
for one people to dissolve the political bands which have con- 
nected them with another, and to assume, among the powers of 
the earth, the separate and equal station to which the laws of 
nature and of nature's Grod entitle them, a decent respect to the 
opinions of mankind requires that thej' should declare the causes 
which impel them to the separation. 

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are cre- 
ated equal ; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain 
unalienable rights ; that among these, are life, liberty, and the 
pursuit of happiness. That, to secure these rights, governments 
are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the 
consent of the governed ; that, whenever any form of govern- 
ment becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. 231 

people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute a new govern- 
ment, laying its foundation on such principles, and organizing 
its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to 
effect their safety and happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dic- 
tate that governments long established, should not be changed 
for light and transient causes ; and, accordingly, all experience 
hath shown, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while 
evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the 
forms to which they are accustomed. But, when a long train 
of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object, 
evinces a design to reduce them under nbsohite despotism, it is 
their right, it is their duty, to throw off such government, s^d 
to provide new guards for their future securit}'. Such has been 
the patient sufferance of these colonies, and such is now the 
necessity which constrains them to alter their former systems of 
government. The history of the present king of Great Britain 
is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having, in 
direct object, the establishment of an absolute tyranny over 
these States. To prove this, let facts be submitted to a candid 
world : 

He has refused his assent to laws the most wholesome and 
necessary for the public good. 

He has forbidden his Governors to pass laws of immediate 
and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation 
till his assent should be obtained ; and, when so suspended, he 
-has utterly neglected to attend to them. 

He has refused to pass other laws for the accommodation of 
large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish 
the right of representation in the legislature ; a right inestimable 
to them, and formidable to tyrants only. 

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, 
uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public 
records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance 
with his measures. 



232 APPENDIX. 

He has dissolved representative Iiouses repeatedly, for oppos- 
ing, with manly firmness, his invasions on the rights of the 
people. 

He has refused, for a long time after such dissolutions, to 
cause others to be elected ; whereby the legislative powers, 
incapable of annihilation, have returned to the people at large 
for their exercise ; the State remaining, in the mean time, ex- 
posed to all the danger of invasion from without, and convul= 
sions within. 

He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States ; 
for that purpose, obstructing the laws for naturalization of 
foreigners ; refusing to pass others to encourage their migra- 
tion hither, and raising the conditions of new appropriations of 
lands. 

He has obstructed the administration of justice, by refusing 
his assent to laws for establishing judiciary powers. 

He has made judges dependent on his will alone, for the 
tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their 
salaries. 

He has erected a multitude of new offices, and sent hither 
swarms of officers to harass our people, and eat out their sub- 
stance. 

He has kept among us, in times of peace, standing armies, 
without the consent of our legislature. 

He has affected to render the military independent of, and 
siiperior to, the civil power. 

He has combined, with others, to subject us to a jurisdiction 
foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws ; 
giving his assent to their acts of pretended legislation : 

For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us : 

For protecting them, by a mock trial, from punishment, for 
any murders which they should commit on the inhabitants of 
these States : 

For cutting off our trade with all parts of the world : 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. 233 

For imposing taxes on us without our consent : 

For depriving us, in many cases, of tlie benefits of trial by 
jury : 

For transporting us beyond seas to be tried for pretended 
offences : 

For abolisliing the free system of English laws in a neighbour- 
ing province, establishing therein an arbitrary government, and 
enlarging its boundaries, so as to render it at once an example 
and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into 
these colonies : 

For taking away our charters, abolishing our most valuable 
laws, and altering, fundamentally, the powers of our govern- 
ments : % 

For suspending our own legislatures, and declaring them- 
selves invested with power to legislate for us iu all cases what- 
soever. 

He has abdicated government here, by declaring us out of his 
protection, and waging war against us. 

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burnt our 
towns, and destroyed the lives of our people. 

He is, at this time, transporting large armies of foreign mer- 
cenaries to complete the works of death, desolation, and 
tyranny, already begun, with circumstances of cruelty and per- 
fidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally 
unworthy the head of a civilized nation. 

He has constrained our fellow-citizens, taken captive on the 
high seas, to bear arms against their country, to become the 
executioners of their friends and brethren, or to fall themselves 
by their hands. 

He has excited domestic insurrection amongst us, and has 
endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the 
merciless Indian savages, whose known rule of warfare is an 
undistinguished destruction, of all ages, sexes, and conditions. 

In every stage of these oppressions, we have petitioned for 



234 APPENDIX, 

redress, in the most humble terms ; our repeated petitions have 
been answered onl}' by repeated injury. A prince, whose char- 
acter is thus marked by every act which may define a tyrant, is 
unfit to be the ruler of a free people. 

Nor have we been wanting in attention to our British brethren. 

We have warned them, from time to time, of attempts made 
by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over 
us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emi- 
gration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native 
justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them, b}' the 
ties of our common kindred, to disavow these usurpations, which 
would inevitabl}' interrupt our connections and correspondence. 
They, too, have been deaf to the voice of justice and consan- 
guinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which 
denounces our separation, and hold them as we hold the rest of 
mankind, enemies in war, in peace, friends. 
~ We, therefore, the representatives of the United States of 
America, in general congress assembled, appealing to the 
Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, 
do, in the name, and by the authority of the good people of 
these colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United 
Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent 
States ; that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British 
crown, and that all political connexion between them and the 
state of Great Britain, is, and ought to be totally dissolved ; 
and that, as free and independent States, they have full 
power to levy war, conclude peace, contract alliances, establish 
commerce, and to do all other acts and things which indepen- 
dent States may of right do. And, for the support of this 
declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of DIVINE 
PROVIDENCE, we mutually pledge to each other, our lives, 
our fortunes, and our sacred honor. 

The foi-egoing declaration was, by order of Congress, en- 
grossed, and signed by the following members : 

JOHN HANCOCK. 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. 



235 



Neiv Hampshire. 
Josiah Bartlett, 
William Whipple, 
Matthew Thornton. 

Massachusetts Bay. 

Samuel Adams, 
John Adams, 
Robert Treat Paine, 
Elbridge Gerry. 

Rhode Island. 
Stephen Hopkins, 
William Ellery. 

Pennsylvania. 
Robert Morris, 
Benjamin Rush, 
Benjamin Franklin, 
John Morton, 
George Clymer, 
James Smith, 
George Taylor, 
James Wilson, 
George Ross. 

Delaware. 
Caesar Rodney, 
George Read, 
Thomas M'Kean. 

Maryland. 

Samuel Chase, 
William Paca, 
Thomas Stone, 
Charles Carroll, of CarroUton. 

Connecticut. 
Roger Sherman, 
Samuel Huntington, 
William, AVilliams, 
Oliver Wolcott. 



Neio York. 
William Floyd, 
Philip Livingston, 
Francis Lewis, 
Lewis Morris. 

Neiu Jersey. 
Richard Stockton, 
John Witherspoon, 
Francis Hopkinson, 
John Hart, 
Abraham Clark. 

Virginia. 
George Wythe, 
Richard Henry Lee, 
Thomas Jefferson, 
Benjamin Harrison, 
Thomas Nelson, jun. 
Francis Lightfoot Lee, 
Carter Braxton. 

North Carolma. 
William Hooper, 
Joseph Hewes, 
John Penn. 

South Carolina. 
Edward Rutledge, 
Thomas Heyward, jua, 
Thomas Lynch, jun. 
Arthur Middleton. 

Georgia. 
Button Gwinnett, 
Lyman Hall, 
George Walton. 



236 APPENDIX. 

Copies of the foregoing Declaration were, by a resolu- 
tion of Congress, sent to the several assemblies, conven- 
tions, and committees, or councils of safety, and to the 
several commanding officers of the continental troops ; 
and it was also proclaimed in each of the United States, 
and at the head of the army. 



CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 237 



THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES 
OF AMERICA. 



We the People of the United States, in order to form a more 
perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquillity, 
provide for the common defence, promote the general Wel- 
fare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and^ur 
Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the 
United States of America. 

ARTICLE. L 

Section. I. All legislative Powers herein granted shall be 
vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist 
of a Senate and House of Representatives. 

Section. 2. The House of Representatives shall be com- 
posed of Membei's chosen every second year by the People of 
the several States, and the Electors in each State shall have 
the Qualifications requisite for Electors of the most numerous 
Branch of the State Legislature. 

No person shall be a Representative who shall not have at- 
tained to the Age of twent}' five years, and been seven Years a 
Citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, 
be an Inhabitant of that State in which he shall be chosen. 

Representatives and direct Taxes sliall be apportioned among 
the several States which may be included within this Union, ac- 
cording to their respective Numbers, which shall be determined 

[Note. — In reprinting the constitution here, the spelling, punctuation, 
and capitalization of tlie original have been preserved.] 



238 APPENDIX. 

by adding to the whole Number of free Persons, including those 
bound to Service for a Term of Years, and excluding Indians 
not taxed, three fifths of all other Persons. The actual Enu- 
meration shall he made within three Years after the first Meet- 
ing of the Congress of the United States, and within every sub- 
sequent Term of ten Years, in such Manner as they shall by 
Law direct. The Number of Representatives shall not exceed 
one for ever}^ thirty Thousand, but each State shall have at 
Least one Representative ; and until such enumeration shall be 
made, the State of New Hampshire shall be entitled to chuse 
three, Massachusetts eight, Rhode-Island and Providence Plan- 
tations one, Connecticut five. New- York six. New Jersey four, 
Pennsylvania eight, Delaware one, Maryland six, Virginia ten, 
North Carolina five. South Carolina five, and Georgia three. 

When vacancies happen in the Representation from any State, 
the Executive Authority thereof shall issue Writs of Election to 
fill such Vacancies. 

The House of Representatives shall chuse their Speaker and 
other oflflcers ; and shall have the sole Power of Impeachment. 

Section. 3. The Senate of the United States shall be com- 
posed of two Senators from each State, chosen by the Legis- 
lature thereof, for six Years ; and each Senator shall have one 
Vote. 

Immediately after they shall be assembled in Consequence of 
the first Election, they shall be divided as equally as may be 
into three Classes. The Seats of the Senators of the first Class 
shall be vacated at the Expiration of the second Year, of the 
second Class at the Expiration of the fourth Year, and of the 
third class at the Expiration of the sixth Year, so that one third 
may be chosen ever}^ second Year ; and if Vacancies happen by 
Resignation, or otherwise, during the Recess of the Legislature 
of any State, the Executive thereof may make temporary Ap- 
pointments until the next Meeting of the Legislature, which 
shall then fill such Vacancies. 



CONSTITUTION OP THE UNITED STATES. 239 

No person shall be a Senator who shall not have attained to 
the Age of thirty Years, and been nine Years a citizen of the 
United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an Inhabi- 
tant of that State for which he shall be chosen. 

The Vice President of the United States shall be President 
of the Senate, but shall have no Vote, unless they be equally 
divided. 

The Senate shall chuse their other Officers, and also a Presi- 
dent pro tempore, in the Absence of the Vice President, or 
when he shall exercise the Office of President of the United 
States. 

The Senate shall have the sole Power to try all Impeach- 
ments. When sitting for that Purpose, they shall be on Os$^ 
or Affirmation. When the President of the United States is 
tried, tiie Chief Justice shall preside : And no Person shall be 
convicted without the Concurrence of two thirds of the Mem- 
bers present. 

Judgment in Cases of Impeachment shall not extend further 
than to removal from Office, and Disqualification to hold and 
enjoy any Office of honour, Trust or Profit under the United 
States : but the Party convicted shall nevertheless be liable and 
subject to Indictment, Trial, Judgment and Punishment, accord- 
ing to Law. 

Section. 4. The Times, Places and Manner of holding Elec- 
tions for Senators and Representatives, shall be prescribed in 
each State by the Legislature thereof; but the Congress may at 
any time by Law make or alter such Regulations, except as to 
the places of ch using Senators. 

The CoDgress shall assemble at least once in every Year, and 
such Meeting shall be on the first Monday in December, unless 
they shall by Law appoint a different Day. 

Section. 5. Each House shall be the Judge of the Elections, 
Returns and Qualifications of its own Members, and a Majority 
of each shall constitute a Quorum to do Business ; but a smaller 



240 APPENDIX, 

Number may adjourn from day to day, and may be authorized 
to compel the Attendance of absent Members, in such Manner, 
and under such Penalties as each House may provide. 

Each House may determine the Rules of its Proceedings, 
punish its Members for disorderly Behaviour, and, with the Con- 
currence of two thirds, expel a Member. 

Each House shall keep a Journal of its Proceedings, and from 
time to time publish the same, excepting such Parts as may in 
their Judgment require Secrecy ; and the Yeas and Nays of the 
Members of either House on any question shall, at tlie Desire 
of one fifth of those Present, be entered on the Journal. 

Neither House, during the Session of Congress, shall, with- 
out the Consent of the other, adjourn for more than three days, 
nor to any other Place than that in which the two Houses shall 
be sitting. 

Section. 6. The Senators and Representatives shall receive 
a Compensation for their Services, to be ascertained by Law, 
and paid out of the Treasury of the United States. The}' shall 
in all Cases, except Treason, Felony and Breach of the Peace, 
be privileged from Arrest during their Attendance at the Ses- 
sion of their respective Houses, and in going to and returning 
from the same ; and for any speech or debate in either House, 
they shall not be questioned in an}- other Place. 

No Senator or Representative shall, during the Time for 
which he was elected, be appointed to any civil Office under 
the Authority of the United States, which shall have been 
created, or the Emoluments whereof shall have been encreased 
during such time ; and no Person holding any Office under the 
United States, shall be a Member of either House during his 
Continuance in Office. 

Section. 7. All Bills for raising Revenue shall originate in 
the House of Representatives ; but the Senate may propose or 
concur with Amendments as on other Bills. 

Every Bill which shall have passed the House of Representa- 



CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 241 

tives and the Senate, shall, before it become a Law, be pre- 
sented to the President of the United States ; If he approve he 
shall sign it, but if not he shall return it, with his Objections to 
.that House in which it shall have originated, w^ho shall enter 
the Objections at large on their Journal, and proceed to recon- 
sider it. If after such Reconsideration two thirds of that House 
shall agree to pass the Bill, it shall be sent, together with the 
Objections, to the other House, by which it shall likewise be 
reconsidered, and if approved by two thirds of that House, it 
shall become a Law. But in all such cases the Votes of both 
Houses shall be determined by yeas and Nays, and the Names 
of the Persons voting for and against the Bill shall be entere^ 
on the Journal of each House respectively. If any Bill shall 
not be returned by the President within ten Days (Sundays ex- 
cepted) after it shall have been presented to him, the same 
shall be a law, in like Manner as if he had signed it, unless the 
Congress by their adjournment prevent its Return, in which 
Case it shall not be a Law. 

Every Order, Resolution, or Vote to which the Concurrence 
of the Senate and House of Representatives may be necessary 
(except on a question of Adjournment) shall be presented to 
the President of the LTuited States ; and before the Same shall 
take Effect, shall be approved by him, or being disapproved by 
him, shall be repassed by two thirds of the Senate and House 
of Representatives, according to the Rules and Limitations pre- 
scribed in the Case of a Bill. 

Section. 8. The Congress shall have Power 

To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to 
pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence and general 
Welfare of the United States ; but all Duties, Imposts and Ex- 
cises shall be uniform throughout the United States ; 

To borrow Money on the credit of the United States ; 

To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the 
several States, and with the Indian Tribes ; 



242 APPENDIX 

To establish an uniform Rule of Naturalization, and uniform 
Laws on the subject of Bankruptcies throughout the United 
States ; 

To coin Money, regulate the Value thereof, and of foreign 
Coin, and fix the Standard of Weights and Measures ; 

To provide for the Punishment of counterfeiting the Securi- 
ties and current Coin of the United States ; 

To establish Post Offices and post Roads ; 

To promote the progress of Science and useful Arts, by se- 
curing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive 
Right to then- respective Writings and Discoveries ; 

To constitute Tribunals inferior to the supreme Court ; 

To define and punish Piracies and Felonies committed on the 
high Seas, and Offences against the Law of Nations ; 

To declare War, grant letters of Marque and Reprisal, and 
make Rules concerning Captures on Land and Water ; 

To raise and support Armies, but no Appropriation of Money 
to that Use shall be for a longer Term than two Years ; 

To provide and maintain a Navy ; 

To make Rules for the Government and Regulation of the 
laud and naval Forces ; 

To provide for calling forth the Militia to execute the Laws 
of the Union, suppress Insurrections and repel Invasions ; 

To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining, the Mi- 
litia, and for governing such Part of them as may be employed 
in the Service of the United States, reserving to the States 
respectively, the Appointment of the Officers, and the Authority 
of training the Militia according to the Discipline prescribed by 
Congress ; 

To exercise exclusive Legislation in all Cases whatsoever, 
over such District (not exceeding ten Miles square) as may, 
by Cession of particular States, and the Acceptance of Con- 
gress, become the Seat of the Government of the United States, 
and to exercise like Authority over all Places purchased by the 



CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 243 

Consent of the Legislature of the State in which the Same shall 
be, for the Erection of Forts, Magazines, Arsenals, Dock- 
Yards, and other needful Buildings ; — And 

To make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for 
carrying into Execution the foregoing Powers, and all other 
Powers vested by this Constitution in the Government of the 
United States, or in any Department or Officer thereof. 

Section. 9. The Migration or Importation of such Persons 
as any of the States now existing shall think proper to admit, 
shall not be prohibited by the Congress prior to the Year one 
thousand eight hundred and eight, but a Tax or Duty may be 
imposed on such Importation,, not exceeding ten dollars for 
each Person. 

The Privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus shall not be sus- 
pended, unless when in Cases of Rebellion or Invasion the pub- 
lic Safety may require it. 

No Bill of Attainder or ex post facto Law shall be passed. 

No Capitation, or other direct. Tax shall be laid, unless in 
Proportion to the Census or Enumeration herein before directed 
to be taken. 

No Tax or Duty shall be laid on Articles exported from any 
State. 

No Preference shall be given by any Regulation of Commerce 
or Revenue • to the Ports of one State over those of another : 
nor shall Vessels bound to, or from, one State, be obliged to 
enter, clear, or pay Duties in another. 

No money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in Conse- 
quence of Appropriations made by Law ; and a regular State- 
ment and Account of the Receipts and Expenditures of all pub- 
lic Money shall be published from time to time. 

No Title of Nobility shall be granted by the United States : 
And no Person holding any Office of Profit or Trust under 
them, shall, without the Consent of the Congress, accept of any 
present. Emolument, Office, or Title, of auy kind whatever, 
from any King, Prince, or foreign State. 



244 APPENDIX. 

Section. 10. No State shall entei' into any Treaty, Alliance, 
or Confederation ; grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal ; coin 
Money ; emit Bills of Credit ; make any Thing but gold and 
silver Coin a Tender in Payment of Debts ; pass any Bill of 
Attainder, ex post facto Law, or Law impairing the Obligation 
of Contracts, or grant any Title of Nobility. 

No State shall, without the consent of the Congress, lay any 
Imposts or Duties on Imports or Exports, except what may be 
absolutely necessary for executing its inspection Laws : and the 
net produce of all Duties and Imposts, laid by any State on 
Imports or Exports, shall be for the Use of the Treasury of 
the United States ; and all such Laws shall be subject to the 
Revision and Controul of the Congress. 

No State shall, without the Consent of Congress, lay any 
Duty of Tonnage, keep Troops, or Ships of War in time of 
Peace, enter into any Agreement or Compact with another 
State, or with a foreign Power, or engage in AVar, unless 
actually invaded, or in such imminent Danger as will not admit 
of Delay. 

ARTICLE. II. 

Section. 1. The executive Power shall be vested in a Presi- 
dent of the United States of America. He shall hold his 
Oflflce during the Term^'of four Years, and, together with the 
Vice President, chosen for the same Term, be elected, as fol- 
lows : 

Each State shall appoint, in such Manner as the Legislature 
thereof may direct, a Number of Electors, equal to the whole 
Number of Senators and Representatives to which the State 
may be entitled in the Congress : but no Senator or Representa- 
tive, or Person holding an Office of Trust or Profit under the 
United States, shall be appointed an Elector. 

^The Electors shall meet in their respective States, and vote 

1 This clause has been superseded by the 12th amendment. 



CONSTITUTioN OF THE UNITED STATES. 245 

by Ballot for two Persons, of whom one at least shall not be 
an Inhabitant of the same State with themselves. And they 
shall make a List of all the Persons voted for, and of the 
Number of Votes for each ; which List they shall sign and cer- 
tify, and transmit sealed to the Seat of the Government of the 
United States, directed to the President of the Senate. The 
President of the Senate shall, in the Presence of the Senate and 
House of Representatives, open all the Certificates, and the 
Votes shall then be counted. The Person having the greatest 
Number of Votes shall be the President, if such Number be a 
Majority of the whole Number of P^lectors appointed ; and if 
there be more than one who have such Majority and have an ^ 
equal number of Votes, then the House of Representatives shall 
immediately chuse by Ballot one of them for President ; and if 
no Person have a Majority, then from the five highest on the 
List the said House shall in like manner chuse the President. 
But in chusing the President, the Votes shall be taken by 
States, the Representation from each State having one Vote ; a 
Quorum for this Purpose shall consist of a Member or Mem- 
bers from two thirds of the States, and a Majority of all the 
States shall be necessary to a choice. In every Case, after the 
Choice of the President, the Person having the greatest Number 
of Votes of the Electors shall be the Vice President. But if 
there should remain two or more who have equal Votes, the 
Senate shall chuse from them liy Ballot the Vice President. 

Tiie Congress may determine the Time of chusing the Elec- 
tors, and the Day on wdiich they shall give their Votes ; which 
Day shall be the same throughout the United States. 

No Person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the 
United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, 
shall be eligible to the Office of President ; neither shall any 
Person be eligible to that Ofiice who shall not have attained to 
the Age of thirty five Years, and been fourteen Years a Resi- 
dent within the United States. 



246 APPENDIX. 

In Case of the Removal of the President from Office, or of 
his Death, Resignation, or Inability to discharge the Powers 
and Duties of the said office, the same shall devolve on the 
Vice President, and the Congress may by Law provide for the 
Case of Removal, Death, Resignation, or Inability, both of the 
President and Vice President, declaring what Officer shall then 
act as President, and such Officer shall act accordingly, until 
the Disability be removed, or a President shall be elected. 

The President shall, at stated Times, receive for his services, 
a Compensation, which shall neither be encreased nor dimin- 
ished during the Period for which he shall have been elected, 
and he shall not receive within that Period any other Emolu- 
ment from the United States, or any of them. 

Before he enter on the Execution of his Office, he shall take 
the following Oath or Affirmation : — 

" I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully exe- 
" cute the Office of President of the United States, and will to 
" the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Con- 
" stitution of the United States." 

Section. 2. The President shall be Commander in Chief of 
the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the Militia of 
the several States, when called into the actual Service of the 
United States ; he ma}^ require the Opinion, in writing, of the 
principal Officer in each of the executive Departments, upon 
any Subject relating to the Duties of their respective Offices, 
and he shall have Power to grant Reprieves and Pardons for 
Offences against the United States, except in Cases of Impeach- 
ment. 

He shall have Power, by and with the Advice and Consent 
of the Senate, to make Treaties, provided two thirds of the 
Senators present concur ; and he shall nominate, and by and 
with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, shall appoint 
Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, Judges of 
the supreme Court, and all other Officers of the United States, 



CONSTITUTIOIsr OF THE UNITED STATES. 247 

whose Appointments are not herein otherwise provided for, and 
which shall be established by Law : but the Congress may by 
Law vest the Appointment of such inferior Officers, as they 
think proper, in the President alone, in the Courts of Law, or 
in the Heads of Departments. 

The President shall have Power to fill up all Vacancies that 
may happen during the Recess of the Senate, by granting Com- 
missions which shall expire at the End of their next Session, 

Section. 3. He shall from time to time give to the Congress 
Information of the State of the Union, and recommend to their 
Consideration such Measures as he shall judge necessary and 
expedient ; he may, on extraordinary Occasions, convene both 
Houses, or either of them, and in Case of Disagreement between 
them, with Respect to the time of Adjoiuiiment, he may adjourn 
them, to such Time as he shall think proper ; lie shall receive 
Ambassadors and other public Ministers ; he shall take Care 
that the Laws be faithfully executed, and shall Commission all 
the officers of the United States. 

Section. 4. The President, Vice President and all civil Offi- 
cers of the United States, shall be removed from Office on 
Impeachment for, and Conviction of. Treason, Bribery, or other 
high Crimes and Misdemeanors. 

ARTICLE. III. 

Section. 1. The Judicial Power of the United States, shall 
be vested in one supreme Court, aud in such inferior Courts as 
the Congress may from time to time ordain and estaJDlish. The 
Judges, both of the supreme aud inferior Courts, shall hold 
their Offices during good Behavior, and shall, at stated Times, 
receive for their Services, a Compensation which shall not be 
diminished during their Continuance in Office. 

Section. 2. The Judicial Power shall extend to all Cases, in 
Law and Equity, arising under this Constitution, the Laws 
of the LTnited States, aud Treaties made, or which shall be 



248 ^ APPENDIX. 

made, under their Authority ; — to all Cases affecting Ambassa- 
dors, other public Ministers and Consuls; — to all Cases of 
admiralty and maritime Jurisdiction ; — to Controversies to 
which the United States shall be a Party ; — to Controversies 
between two or more States ; — between a State and Citizens 
of another State ; — between Citizens of different States, — 
between Citizens of the same State claiming Lands under Grants 
of different States, and between a State, or the Citizens thereof, 
and foreign States, Citizens or Subjects. 

In all Cases affecting Ambassadors, other public Ministers 
and Consuls, and those in which a State shall be Party, the 
supreme Court shall have original Jurisdiction. In all the 
other Cases before mentioned, the supreme Court shall have 
appellate Jurisdiction, both as to Law and Fact, with such 
Exceptions, and under such Regulations as the Congress shall 
make. 

The Trial of all Crimes, except in Cases of Impeachment, 
shall be by Jury ; and such Trial shall be held in the State 
where the said Crimes shall have been committed ; but when 
not committed within any State, the Trial shall be at such Place 
or Places as the Congress may by Law have directed. 

Section. 3. Treason against the United States, shall consist 
only in levying War against them, or in adhering to their 
Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort. No Person shall be 
convicted of Treason unless on the Testimony of two Witnesses 
to the same overt Act, or on Confession in open Court. 

The Congress shall have Power to declare the Punishment of 
Treason, but no Attainder of Treason shall work Corruption 
of Blood, or Forfeiture except during the Life of the Person 
attainted. 

ARTICLE. IV. 

Section. 1. Full Faith and Credit shall be given in each 
State to the public Acts, Records, and judicial Proceedings of 



CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 249 

every other State. And the Congress may by general Laws 
prescribe the Manner in which such Acts, Records, and Pro- 
ceedings shall be proved, and the Effect thereof. 

Section. 2. The Citizens of each State shall be entitled to 
all Privileges and Immunities of Citizens in the several States. 

A Person charged in any State with Treason, Felony, or 
other Crime, who shall flee from Justice, and be found in another 
State, shall on Demand of the executive Authority of the State 
from which he fled, be delivered up, to be removed to the State 
having Jurisdiction of the Crime. 

No Person held to Service or Labour in one State, under the 
Laws thereof, escaping into another, shall, in Consequence of ^ 
any Law or Regulation therein, be discharged from such Service 
or Labour, but shall be delivered up on Claim of the Party to 
whom such Service or Labour may be due. 

Section. 3. New States may be admitted by the Congress 
into this Union ; but no new State shall be formed or erected 
within the Jurisdiction of any other State ; nor any State be 
formed by the Junction of two or more States, or Parts of 
States, without the Consent of the Legislatures of the States 
concerned as well as of tlie Congress. 

The Congress shall have Power to dispose of and make all 
needful Rules and Regulations respecting the Territory or other 
Property belonging to the United States ; and nothing in this 
Constitution shall be so constiued as to Prejudice any Claims 
of the United States, or of an}' particular State. 

Section. 4. The United States shall guarantee to every 
State in this Union a Republican Form of Government, and 
shall protect each of them against Invasion, and on Application 
of the Legislature, or of the Executive (when the Legislature 
cannot be convened) against domestic Violence. 

ARTICLE. V. 

The Congress, whenever two thirds of both Houses shall 
deem it necessary, shall propose Amendments to this Constitu- 



250 APPENDIX. 

tion, or, on the Application of the Legislatures of two thirds of 
the several States, shall call a Convention for proposing Amend- 
ments, which, in either Case, shall be valid to all Intents and 
Purposes, as Part of this Constitution, when ratified by the 
Legislatures of three fourths of the several States, or by Con- 
ventions in thr^e fourths thereof, as the one or the other Mode ■ 
of Ratification may be proposed by the Congress ; Provided 
that no Amendment which may be made prior to the Year one 
thousand eight hundred and eight shall in any Manner affect 
the first and fourth Clauses in the Ninth Section of the first 
Article ; and that no State, without its Consent, shall be de- 
prived of its equal Suffrage in the Senate. 

ARTICLE. VI. 

All Debts contracted and Engagements entered into, before 
the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be as valid against the 
United States under this Constitution, as under the Confeder- 
ation. 

This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which 
shall be made in Pursuance thereof ; and all Treaties made, or 
which shall be made, under the authority of the United States, 
shall be the supreme Law of the Land ; and the Judges in every 
State shall be bound thereby, any Thing in the Constitution or 
Laws of any State to the Contrary notwithstanding. 

The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the 
Members of the several State Legislatures, and all executive 
and judicial Officers, both of the United States and of the sev- 
eral States, shall be bound by Oath or Affirmation, to support 
this Constitution ; but no religious Test shall ever be required 
as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United 

States. 

ARTICLE. YU. 

The Ratification of the Conventions of nine States, shall be 
sufficient for the Establishment of this Constitution between the 
States so ratifviug the Same. 



CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 



251 



Done in Convention by the Unanimous Consent of the States 
present the Seventeenth Day of September in the Year of 
our Lord one thousand seven hundred and Eighty seven 
and of the Independence of the United States of America 
the Twelfth. In Witness whereof We have hereunto 
subscribed our Names, 

G" WASHINGTON — 

Presidt and deputy from Virginia 



John Langdon 



Nathaniel Gorham 



Wm Saml Johnson 



Alexander Hamilton 



WiL Livingston 
Wm Paterson 



B Franklin 
RoBT Morris 
Tho Fitzsimons 
James Wilson 



Geo Read 
John Dickinson 
Jaco Broom 

James M'Henry 
Danl Carroll 



NEW HAMPSHIRE. 

Nicholas Gilman 

MASSACHUSETTS. 
RuFus King 

CONNECTICUT. 

Roger Sherman 

NEW YORK. 

NEW JERSEY. 

David Brearley 
JoNA Datton 

PENNSYLVANIA. 

Thomas Mifflin 
Geo Cltmer 
Jared Ingersoll 
Gouv Morris 

DELAWARE. 

Gunning Bedford, Jun'r 
Richard Bassett 

MARYLAND. 

Dan of St Thos Jenifer 



252 



APPENDIX. 



John Blair 



Wm Blount 
Hu Williamson 



j rutledge 
Charles Pinckney 



William Few 

Attest 



VIRGINIA. 

James Madison, Jr 

NORTH CAROLINA. 

Rich'd Dobbs Spaight 

SOUTH CAROLINA. 

Charles Cotesworth Pinckney 
Pierce Butler 

GEORGIA. 

Abr Baldwin 

WILLIAM JACKSON, Secretary. 



Articles in Addition to, and Amendment of, the 
Constitution of the United States of America, 

Proposed by Congress, and ratified by the Legislatures of the 
several States, pursuant to the fifth article of the original 
Constitution. 

(ARTICLE L) 

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of 
religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging 
the freedom of speech, or of the press ; or the right of the 
people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government 
for a redress of grievances. 

(ARTICLE IL) 

A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a 
free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall 
ijot be infringed. 



AMENDMENTS TO THE CONSTITUTION. 253 

(ARTICLE III.) 

No Soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, 
without the consent of the Owner, nor in time of war, but in a 
manner to be prescribed by law. 

(ARTICLE IV.) 

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, 
papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, 
shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon 
probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particu- 
larly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or 
things to be seized. % 

(ARTICLE V.) 

No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise 
infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a 
Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, 
or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or pub- 
lic danger ; nor shall any person be subject for the same offence 
to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb ; nor shall be com- 
pelled in any Criminal Case to be a witness against himself, nor 
be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of 
law ; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without 
just compensation. 

^ARTICLE VL) 

In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right 
to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State 
and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which 
district shall have been previously ascertained b}- law, and to be 
informed of the nature and cause of the accusation ; to be con- 
fi'onted with the witnesses against him ; to have Compulsor}^ 
process for obtaining Witnesses in his favour, and to have the 
Assistance of Counsel for his defence. 



254 APPENDIX. 

(ARTICLE VII.) 

In Suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall 
exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be pre- 
served, and no fact tried by a jury shall be otherwise re-exam- 
ined in any Court of the United States, than according to the 
rules of the common law. 

(ARTICLE VIII.) 

Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines im- 
posed, nor cruel and unusual punishments 'inflicted. 

(ARTICLE IX.) 

The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall 

not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the 

people. 

(ARTICLE X.) 

The powers not delegated to the United States by the Con- 
stitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the 
States respectively, or to the people. 

(ARTICLE XI.) 

The Judicial power of the United States shall not be con- 
strued to extend to any suit in law or equity, commenced or 
prosecuted against one of the United States by Citizens of an- 
other State, or by Citizens or Subjects of any Foreign State. 

(ARTICLE XII.) 

The Electors shall meet in their respective states, and vote 
by ballot for President and Vice-President, one of whom, at 
least, shall not be an inhabitant of the same state with them- 
selves ; they shall name in their ballots the person A'oted for as 
President, and in distinct* ballots the person voted for as Vice- 
President, and they shall make distinct lists of all persons voted 
for as President, and of all persons voted for as Vice-President, 



AMENDMENTS TO THE CONSTITUTION. 255 

and of the number of votes for each, which lists the}^ shall sign 
and certify, and transmit sealed to the seat of the government 
of the United States, directed to the President of the Senate ; 
— The President of the Senate shall, in presence of the Senate 
and House of Representatives, open all the certificates and the 
votes shall then be counted ; — The person having the greatest 
nnmber of votes for President, shall be the President, if such 
number be a majority of the whole number of Electors ap- 
pointed ; and if no person have such majority, then from the 
persons having the highest numbei's not exceeding three on the 
list of those voted for as President, the House of Representa- 
tives shall choose immediately, by ballot, the President. But^ 
in choosing the President, the votes shall be taken by states, 
the representation from each state having one vote ; a quorum 
for this purpose shall consist of a member or members from 
two-thirds of the states, and a majority of all the states shall be 
necessary to a choice. And if the House of Representatives 
shall not choose a President whenever the right of choice shall 
devolve upon them, before the fourth day of March next follow- 
ing, then the Vice-President shall att as President, as in the 
case of the death or other constitutional disability of the Presi- 
dent. — The person having the greatest number of votes as 
Vice-President, shall be the Vice-President, if such number be 
a majority of the whole number of Electors appointed, and if 
no person have a majority, then from the two highest numbers 
on the list, the Senate shall choose the Vice-President ; a quo- 
rum for the purpose shall consist of two-thirds of the whole 
number of Senators, and a majority of the whole number shall 
be necessary to a choice. But no person constitutionally ineli- 
gible to the office of President shall be eligible to that of Vice- 
President of the United States. 

(ARTICLE XIII.) 

Section 1. Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except 
as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been 



256 APPENDIX. 

duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place 
subject to their jurisdiction. 

Sect. 2. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by 
appropriate legislation. 

(ARTICLE XIV.) 

Section 1. All persons born or naturalized in the United 
States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of 
the United States, and of the State wherein they reside. No 
State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the 
privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States ; nor 
shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property 
without due process of law, nor deny to any person within its 
jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws. 

Sect. 2. Representatives shall be apportioned among the 
several States, according to their respective numbers, counting 
the whole number of persons in each State, excluding Indians 
not taxed. But when the right to vote at any election for the 
choice of electors for president and vice-president of the United 
States, representatives in Congress, the executive and judicial 
officers of a State, or the members of the legislature thereof, is 
denied to any of the male inhabitants of such State, being 
twenty-one years of age, and citizens of the United States, or 
in any way abridged, except for participation in rebellion or 
other crimes, the basis of representation shall be reduced in the 
proportion which the number of such male citizens shall bear to 
the whole number of male citizens, twenty-one years of age, in 
such State. 

Sect. 3. No person shall be a senator or representative in 
Congress, or elector of president or vice-president, or hold any 
office, civil or military, under the United States or under any 
State, who having previously taken an bath as a member of 
Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member 
of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of 



AMENDMENTS TO THE CONSTITUTION. 257 

any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, 
shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, 
or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress 
may by a vote of two-thirds of each house remove such disa- 
bility. 

Sect. 4. The validity of the public debt of the United States, 
authorized by law, including debts incurred for payment of pen- 
sions and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or 
rebellion, shall not be questioned. But neither the United 
States, nor any State, shall assume or pa^' an}- debt or obliga- 
tion incurred in aid of insurrection or rebellion against the 
United States, or any claim for the loss or emancipation of an^ 
slave ; but all such debts, obligations, and claims shall be held 
illegal and void. 

Sect. 5. The Congress shall have power to enforce by appro- 
priate legislation the provisions of this article. 

(ARTICLE XV.) 

vSection 1. The right of citizens of the United States to vote 
shall not be denied or abridged by the United States, or by any 
State, on account of race, color, or previous condition of servi- 
tude. 

Sect. 2. The Congress shall have power to enforce this arti- 
cle by appropriate legislation. 



INDEX. 



INDEX TO THE STATES. 



Agency, 70. 

Aliens, 45. 

Asylums, 55. 

Borough, 44. 

Canals, 75. 

Children and parents, 50. 

Cities and oificers, 43. 

Common carriers, 73. 

Contracts, 59; 

Counties and officers, 43 

Courts, 42. 

Criminals, 55. 

Deeds, 67. 

Education, 47; county superintendent 

of, 43; state superintendent of, 47. 
Express companies, 74. 
Governor, 39. 
Habeas corpus, writ of, 57. 
Insurance, 71. 
Interest, 70. 
Judiciary, 41. 
Juries, grand and petit, 52; trial by, 

53. 
Laws, sources of, 46. 
Leases, 66. 
Legislature, 41. 
Liens, 65. 



Marriage, 48. 

Militia, 54. 

Mortgages, 64. 

Notes, 69. |. 

Oificers of city, 43; of county, 43; of 

state, 39. 
Orphan's courts, 42. 
Parents and children, 50. 
Partnership, 62. 
Prisons, 55. 
Probate courts, 42. 
Promissory notes, 69. 
Railroads, 73. 
Receipts, 69. 
Sales, 67. 
States, division of, 42; officers of, 39; 

organization of, 39. 
Superintendent of public instruction, 

43, 44. 
Surrogates' court, 42. 
Taxes, 51. 
Tenant, 66. 
Towns, 44. 
Trial by jury, 53. 
Villages, 44. 
Voters, 45. , 

Wills, 58. 



INDEX TO THE NATIONAL GOVERNMENT. 



Academy, military, 147; naval, 150. 
Account of receipts and expenditures 
of public funds to be published, 204. 
Adjournment of Congress, 97. 
Adjutant-General, 144, 146. 



Administrative Department, 82, 123. 
Agriculture, commissioner of, 152. 
Alliance of states prohibited, ggg- 
Ambassadors to and from other gov- 
ernments, 130. 



260 



INDEX. 



Amendments, to bills, 05; to constitu- 
tion, 209. 

Andros, Governor, 7, 8, 9, 11, 13. 

Appointment of members of Congress 
to certain offices forbidden, 121. 

Appropriations of money, 164 ; for the 
army, 118. 

Archives, bureau of, 131. 

Aristocracy, defined, 78. 

Arms, right of the people to keep, 
guaranteed, 29. 

Army, the, 145; officers of, 145; appro- 
priations for, 118. 

Articles of Confederation, 19; weak- 
ness of, 21, 22, 187. 

Assemblage of the people, right of, 29. 

Attainder, bill of, 26, 118, 198. 

Attorney-General, 166,176; assistants, 
166, 176. 

Auditors of the Treasury, 135. 

Bail, admitted to, 35. 

Bankruptcy, 107. 

Banks, national, 142; taxed, 141. 

Base line, 158. 

Bill of attainder, 26, 118, 198; of credit, 
192; of riglits, 25. 

Bills, 92; for raising revenue, 92. 

Borrow money, power of Congress to, 
102. 

Boston, founded, 6. 

Cabinet of the President, 129. 

California, discovered, 2. 

Carolinas, the, discovered, 1; settled, 
11. 

Cash, public lands sold for, 159. 

Census, bureau of the, 153. 

Chart of base line and principal me- 
ridian, 158. 

Civil government, 77; polity, 77; 
rights, 196, 197; state, -39. 

Coal-lands, 160. 

Coast-survey, 136. 

Colonial conference, 16 ; Congresses, 17, 
18, 20. 

Commerce, foreign, 103; interstate, 
105, 171. 

Commissioner of Agriculture, 152; 
Customs, 138; Education, 153: In- 
dian Affairs, 152; Interstate Com- 



merce, 171; Patents, 153; Pensions, 
152; Public Lands, 152; Revenue, 
special, 134. 

Committees of each house of Congress, 
88, 91. 

Common defense, 102. 

Communism tried at Plymouth, 6; in 
Virginia, 4. 

Comptroller of the Currency, 135. 

Confederation, Articles of, adopted, 19, 
21; weakness of, 21, 22, 187; of the 
New; England colonies, 7, 9, 11, 15. 

Congress, adjournment, 97, 128; com- 
mittees, 88, 91; impeachment, 98; 
journal, 90; members of, 85; duties 
of, 88; organization, 87; powers of, 
99; quorum, 88; restrictions upon 
powers, 118; rights of each house, 
89; rules, 91; sessions, 87. 

Connecticut, settled, 8. 

Constitution, 25; adopted and ratified, 
19; by whom framed, 21; imperfect, 
209; objects of, 22; preamble of, 21. 

Constitutional amendments, 209; com- 
mands, 204. 

Continental Congresses, 18-20. 

Contracts, laws impairing, 193. 

Consuls, 130, 181. 

Copyright, 109, 169. 

Coronado, explorations of, 2. 

Counterfeiting, Congress may punish, 
108. 

Courts, circuit, 174; of claims, 176; 
district, 175 ; of District of Columbia, 
175; supreme, 174; of territories, 
176; jurisdiction of, 179, 183; officers 
of, 176; may be established by Con- 
gress, 109. 

Coxe, Daniel, counsels union of the 
colonies, 16. 

Currency, Comptroller of, 135. 

Customs revenue, 137. 

Dead-letter office, 164. 

Declaration, of Independence, 18, 36; 
of Rights, 17, 18. 

Delaware, settled, 11. 

Democratic form of government in 
Maryland, 9; in Massachusetts, 5; 
in Rhode Island, 10. 



INDEX. 



261 



Democracy, defined, 78. 

Departments of, the Interior, 129, 152; 
Justice, 129, 166; Navy, 129, 149; 
Post Office, 129, 162; State, 129, 130; 
Treasury, 129, 134; War, 129, 144. 

Desert-lands, 160. 

De Soto, explorations of, 2. 

District, courts, 175; of Columbia, 112. 

Diplomatic bureau, 130. 

Drake, Sir Francis, discoveries of, 2. 

Duties, 99, 100; export, 119; not to be 
levied by the states, 194. 

Education, bureau of, 119; commis- 
sioner of, 153. 

Elective franchise, rights to, 37, 201. 

Election of members of Congress, 85, 
113; of President, 113, 124. 

Eminent domain, right of, 33. 

Excise duties and taxes, 99. 

Executive Department, 82, 123. 

Export duty, 119, 199. 

Ex post facto law, 26, 118, 193, 198. 

Florida, discovered, 1. 

Foreign commerce, 103. 

Foreign service of Post-Office Depart- 
ment, 163. 

Forms of civil government, 77. 

Franklin, Benjamin, 16; plans for 
union of the colonies, 17. 

Fugitive, criminals, 205, 206; slaves, 
195. 

General welfare clause of the consti- 
tution, 102. 

General powers of Congress, 111 ; of 
the President, 127. 

Georgia, settled, 13. 

Gorges and Mason, 7. 

Gosnold, attempts at settlement, 3. 

Government of the United States, 79; 
division of powers, 80. 

Grand jury, 31, 178. 

Habeas corpus, writ of, 25, 198. 

Hamilton, Alexander, 1.39, 143. 

Homestead rights, 159, 161 ; of sol- 
diers, 159. 

Hudson, Henry, discoveries, 8. 

Immediate delivery of letters, 164. 

Impairing contracts, 193. 

Impeachment, 98, 184, 185, 186. 



Impost duties, 99, 138, 139. 

Independence, declaration of, 18, 36. 

Indian affairs, bureau of, 152; commis- 
sioner of, 152. 

Indians, commerce with, 106. 

Interior Department, 152. 

Internal revenue sj'stem, 140. 

Interstate commerce, 105, 171 ; com- 
missioners of, 171. 

Introduction, historic, 1. 

Journal of each house of Congress, 90. 

Judges of courts appointed by the 
President, 175. 

Judicial Department, 82, 174. 

Jurisdiction of courts, 109, 174, 175, 
179, 183. 

Jury, grand, 178; right of trial by, %, 
34. 

Justice, constitution formed to estab- 
lish, 23; department of , 166. 

Kennebec river, settlement on, 3. 

Lands, public, 156. 

Law, due process of, 32. 

Laws, how passed, 92-97; publication 
of, 97; signed by the President, 96; 
when to take effect, 97. 

Legislative Department, 81, 84; dia- 
gram of, 84. 

Legislation, methods of, 92. 

Letters, dead, 130; registry of, 164. 

Liberty, constitution established to 
secure, 24. 

Light-house board, 142. 

Locke, John, his grand model of gov- 
ernment, 12. 

Maine, 3, 6, 114. 

Map, of section of public land, 157 ; of 
townships of public land, 156. 

Maryland, 9. 

Massachusetts, 1, 3, 5, 114. 

Mayflower, written compact in, 5. 

Measures, regulated by Congress, 108. 

Mechlenberg, N. C, declared for inde- 
pendence, 18. 

Members of Congress, 85; appointed 
to other offices, 112; how elected, 86; 
oath of office, 122; privileges of, 86; 
qualifications, 85; salary, 121 ; vacan- 
cies, how filled, 122. 



262 



INDEX. 



Methods of legislation, 92. 

Military Academy, 147. 

Militia of the states, 25, 116. 

Mineral lands, 160. 

Ministers to and from other govern- 
ments, 130, 181. 

Mint, the, 142. 

Minute-men, organized, 18. 

Monarchy, defined, 78. 

Money, may be regulated by Congress, 
108, 192. 

Money-order system, 163. 

Narragansett bay, visited, 1; settled, 
10. 

National banks, system of, 142; taxa- 
tion of, 141. 

Naturalization, 107, 168. 

Naval Academy, 150. 

Navigation, bureau of, 149. 

Navy Department, 149. 

Navy, the, 151; officers of, 151; vessels 
classified, 151. 

New England, visited, 1, 3; named, 3. 

New Hampshire, 7. 

New Jersey, 12. 

New states may be admitted by Con- 
gress, 114, 120. 

New York, 8, 13; bay, 1. 

Nobility, titles of, 116, 200. 

North Carolina, 1, 3, 11. 

Oath of office, of members of Con- 
gress, 122; of President, 126. 

Objects, of the constitution, 22; of 
taxation, 99, 101. 

Officers, of courts, 176: by whom ap- 
pointed, 177; terms of service, 177. 

Organization, of Congress, 87; of the 
government, 20. 

Pardons and passports, bureau of, 
1.32. 

Patents, 109, 153; commissioner of, 
152. 

Penn, AVilliam, 13; plans for union of 
the colonies, 16. 

Pennsylvania, 13. 

Pensions, bureau of, 152; commissioner 
of, 152. 

Personal rights, 196. 

Petition, right of, 29. 



Piracy, punishment of, 110. 

Plymouth colony, 5. 

Postage, rates of, 165. 

Postal notes, 163. 

Post-office Department, 162. 

Post-offices and post-roads, may be es- 
tablished by Congress, 108. 

Powers, of Congress, 99; of the Presi- 
dent, 123, 127; of the United States, 
division of, 80; reserved, 35; restric- 
tions upon, 118. 

Preamble of the constitution, 21. 

Pre-emptions, of public lands, 159. 

Preferences to ports. Congress prohib- 
ited to give, 119. 

President, the, 124; approves or vetoes 
bills, 96; how elected, 124; general 
powers, 127; makes treaties, 127; 
oath of office, 126; powers, 124, 127; 
qualifications, 126; salary, 127. 

Press, freedom of, guarantied, 29. 

PrinciiDal meridian, 158. 

Principles of. civil government, 79. 

Private property for public use, 30, 
33. 

Privileges, of citizens, 27, 37, 196, 197; 
of members of Congress, 86. 

Prohibitions, upon Congress, 118, upon 
the states, 188; upon the United 
States, 198; of slavery, 113; of the 
slave-trade, 113, 211. 

Protections, to American industry, 99, 
101; to private property, 30; of the 
states against invasion, 207. 

Public debts, 101, 202, 208; records, 
114, 204. 

Public lands, 115, 152, 156; commis- 
sioner of, 152; sale of, 159. 

Punishment of counterfeiting, 108; of 
piracy, 110; of treason, 114. 

Qualifications of members of Congress, 
85; of President, 126. 

Qualifications of voters in early Con- 
necticut, 9; in Massachusetts, 7; in 
Pennsylvania, 13; in Rhode Island, 
11. 

Quorum of each house of Congress, 
88. 

Raleigh, Sir Walter, 2; city of, 3. 



INDEX. 



263 



Register of the Treasury, 136. 

Regulation, of commerce, 103; of meas- 
ures, money, and weights, 108. 

Relations of the states, 187. 

Religious freedom, guarantied, 28, 29, 
201; in Maryland, 10; in Rhode 
Island, 11. 

Reports of committees, 94; action upon, 
95; effect of, 95. 

Representative bodies in the colonies : 
Connecticut, 9; Delaware, 11; Mary- 
land, 9; Massachusetts, 5; New 
Hampshire, 7: New Jersey, 12, 13; 
New York, 8; North Carolina, 12: 
Pennsylvania, 13; Rhode Island, 10, 
11; Virginia, 5. 

Republican form of government guar- 
antied to each state, 20G. 

Revenue system, 138; customs, 138; 
internal, 140. 

Rhode Island, 1, 10. 

Rights, Bill of, 24; civil and personal, 
196, 197; Declaration of, 17, 18; of 
citizens of each state, 27, 37, 205; 
to assemble peaceably, 29; to keep 
and bear arms, 29; to jury trial, 27, 
34; to speedy trial, 33; of each house 
of Congress, 89; reserved, 188. 

Rolls and archives, bureau of, 131. 

Rules of each house of Congress, 
91. 

Salary of members of Congress, 121; 
of President, 127. 

Saline lands, 160. 

Santa Fe, founded, 2. 

Search warrants, 30. 

Secret sessions of Congress, 90. 

Section of public land, map of, 157. 

Signal corps, 145. 

Slaves, fugitive, 195. 

Slave-trade in the United Sates, be- 
ginnings of, 1, 2; Congress may 
abolishi 113; taxation of, 113. 

Slavery, prohibited, 113, 202. 

Smith, .John, visits and names New 
England, 3. 

Smithsonian Institution, 170. 

Soldiers' homestead rights, 169. 

South Carolina, 1, 2, 12. 



Speaker, presiding officer of the House, 
88; duties of, 88. 

State Department, 130. 

States, may not impose tariff duties, 
nor keep troops without consent of 
Congress, 116; new may be admitted, 
120; consolidation and division of, 
120; equality of in the Senate, 211; 
responsible for action of their citi- 
zens, 196, 197. 

Statistics, bureau of, 137. 

St. Augustine founded, 2. 

Survey of coast, 136. 

Tariff, 136, 139; effects of, 99, 101, 138, 
139; states cannot impose, 116. 

Taxes, capitation, 99, 118; direct, 199; 
how levied, 118, 194, 199; incorn^^ 
140; must be uniform, 101; objects 
of, 101; power to levy, 99; stamp, 
140. 

Territorial courts, 176; jurisdiction of, 
183. 

Testimony, accused not compelled to 
furnish, 32. 

Trade-marks, 154. 

Translators for. State Department, 132. 

Treason, defined, 114; may be pun- 
ished, 120. 

Treasurer of the United States, 136. 

Treasury Department, 1.34. 

Treaties, made by President, 127; con- 
firmed by Senate, 127. 

Timber-culture, lands obtained by, 
160. 

Township of land, map of, 156. 

Trials, after acquitted, 31; by jury, 
34; in impeachment, 185; in United 
States courts, 178; speedy, and where 
the crime was committed, 33. 

Union, more perfect, one object of the 
constitution, 22. 

United States, government of, 77. 

Unity of the colonies, plans for, 14, 16, 
17; tendency towards, 14. 

Vacancies, in office of member of Con- 
gress, how filled, 122. 

Vermont, 114. 

Vice-President, the, 81, 84, 124, 125. 

Virginia, 3, 4. 



264 



INDEX. 



Vote, 37, 202; how member of Con- 
gress, 91. 

AVar, Congress may declare, 111, 190; 
states cannot engage in, 190. 

War Department, 144. 



Washington, George, 19, 139. 
Weights, may be regulated by Con- 
gress, 108. 
Williams, Roger, 10. 
Yeardley, governor of Virginia, 5. 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 




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